The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) is reminding families of the importance of making sure their children are up to date on their vaccines as they head back to school.

During a press conference held Tuesday afternoon, ODH Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said while the majority of Ohio's children reach kindergarten with their required vaccines, there has been a decline in vaccine rates within the past few years.

"In the 2019-2020 school year, 89.9% of [Ohio's] incoming kindergarteners met all vaccine requirements. This past school year, the percentage of kindergartners who met all requirements was down to 85.4% for a drop of nearly 4.5% over five years," Dr. Vanderhoff said.

Dr. Vanderhoff said that while certain diseases have been considered eradicated, that does not mean that they cannot

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