AURORA | The Cherry Creek School District has one of the highest student COVID-19 vaccination rates in the state, according to a new online dashboard from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
In the district 53.8% of students are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, a rate that puts it below just seven other school districts, including Littleton and Boulder Valley. An additional 60.1% of Cherry Creek students have had at least one dose, while 9.6% have also received a booster.
Rates are lower in the neighboring Aurora Public Schools, where 36.8% of students are fully immunized, 45.7% have had at least one dose and 3.7% have received a booster. That’s still significantly higher however than the rates in many other school districts, particularly in rural Colorado.
The new dashboard, which also displays vaccination rates of individual schools, shows dramatic disparities within individual districts and across the state. In some rural communities, school districts have vaccination rates in the single digits.
In APS, Laredo Elementary School has the lowest vaccination rate, at just 12.5%, along with Paris Elementary at 14.6%. The highest rate is at Rangeview High School (66.2%), followed by William Smith High School (64.3%) and Vista PEAK (62.5%).
Cherry Creek High School has the highest vaccination rate in Cherry Creek at 78.2% of students fully vaccinated. Campus Middle School, West Middle School, Challenge School and Cherokee Trail all have rates in the 70s as well. The lowest rates are Village East Elementary School and Highline Elementary School, which both have rates of about 19%.
COVID-19 is less dangerous for children and teenagers than it is for older adults, but public health officials in Colorado have strongly urged parents to vaccinate their children since it became available. The vaccine is currently available for all Colorado residents age 5 and older.
According to Chalkbeat Colorado, statewide, 34% of children aged 5 to 11 and 62% of those ages 12 to 17 have received two doses of a COVID vaccine. Roughly 32% of older children have received the booster dose recommended for increased protection.
That’s above the national average but below where Colorado public health officials would like it to be, Chalkbeat Colorado reported. Schools are increasingly dependent on vaccinations to limit the spread of COVID in classrooms, as masks, quarantine, and other mitigation measures have been phased out.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment compiled the database by cross-referencing state vaccination data with student data from the Colorado Department of Education, Chalkbeat Colorado reported. Officials said the analysis was done in a way that protects student privacy and the numbers are only reported in aggregate.
The dashboard will be updated weekly.