PublicSource examined eight years of Pennsylvania immunization data at the county level and one year at the school level for this project on vaccination rates of school children.
Previous to our project, this data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health was in a static format. We’ve made it available for you to explore for the first time.
Our interactive data visualization will allow you to discover the vaccination rates across four major vaccines, including measles, as well as how many students are exempt from vaccines in your local elementary and middle schools. You can also download our spreadsheets to explore the county or school data for yourself.
Using the map
Each dot represents an elementary school that when clicked on shows you the school name and address, the number of kindergarteners enrolled, and the percent of the kindergartners who are vaccinated for four major vaccines.
The dots representing the schools are color-coded to the measles vaccination rate of the kindergarteners at that school.
A green dot is a school where at least 95 percent of the kindergarteners are vaccinated for measles, which constitutes herd immunity.
A yellow dot is a school with an 80 to 94 percent measles immunization rate, which puts it below the herd immunity threshold. But, the school is still above 80 percent — the rate that generated a widespread measles outbreak in the FRED measles simulation.
A red dot represents a school that has less than 80 percent of its kindergarteners vaccinated against measles, which is below the outbreak scenario in the FRED measles simulation.
Let us know when you find something interesting in the map or in the data!
