Courtney Mabeus, The Examiner
2007-11-16 08:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

WASHINGTON -

Robert Goenaga didn’t tell his aunt he lacked all the vaccinations he needed to continue his education at Flowers High School in Prince George’s County.

State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey did.

In a letter Robert’s aunt and legal guardian, Maria, received earlier this week, Ivey told her she could face legal action if she wasn’t able to prove that 16-year-old Robert was up to date on his immunizations.

Even if she had known that Robert, who came to live with her from the Bronx, needed another in the series of hepatitis B shots required by the state, Maria, who asked that her last name not be used because she works in a government office, said it would have been difficult to get it taken care of.

“I can’t get off work,” she said. “It’s hard. I don’t have no medical assistance for him. That’s what’s really hard.”

Ivey announced earlier this week that parents of up to as many as 2,300 children could face fines of up to $50 per day or 10 days in jail for failing to fully immunize their children. Starting Saturday, parents of some of those unvaccinated children are expected to appear before a Prince George’s Circuit Court judge for a hearing over why those children haven’t been properly vaccinated and to offer the shots that they need.

It is the first time that Ivey remembers having to resort to the courts in the county’s recent history to get children immunized. He said it is possible for parents who have religious, health or other objections to immunization.

The threats seemed to have worked for some people. Only 1,111 students remained without proper vaccinations as of late Thursday, public schools spokesman John White said.

Robert, who has been allowed to attend school because he has had some of the shots required by the schools, was not one of those.

Five minutes after walking into a Cheverly clinic, Robert and Maria, who was able to take a few hours off from her job Thursday, returned to their car. They were turned away because they didn’t have an appointment.

“Now I can’t do nothing,” Maria said.

cmabeus@dcexaminer.com