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The Importance of School-Required Immunizations
August is National Immunization Awareness Month. It’s a time when parents often schedule annual well visits for their children prior to the start of school. While most back-to-school checklists include school supplies, it’s important to also include school-required immunizations.
During the two school years following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, routine kindergarten vaccination coverage dropped by two percentage points nationwide from 95% to 93% and by as much as 10% in some jurisdictions. This is the lowest that we’ve seen kindergarten routine vaccination coverage drop nationally in the last decade. Influenza vaccination coverage also dropped five percent among children 6 months to 17 years old. Drops in vaccine coverage put students at greater risk for illness, absenteeism and lower academic achievement from missing even a few days of school.
Routine vaccinations are a great tool to keep kids healthy, in school, and ready to learn. Vaccines can optimize student health by:
• Providing immunity and preventing disease outbreaks,
• Reducing the spread of disease in school thereby reducing the:
o Number of students and teachers that get sick and are absent
o Probability of an unplanned school closure due to illness, and
• Reducing duration of disease and thereby number of school days missed due to poor health.
Although coverage has declined in recent years, we can get back on track and achieve the Healthy People 2030 target of 95% routine kindergarten vaccination coverage by ensuring all kindergarteners without a documented exemption are vaccinated. Education partners and schools are trusted sources of information for parents and guardians, and they play an important role in the health of students. Schools can promote student health,
attendance, and learning by adding routine immunizations to the back-to-school checklist.
In Louisiana, students must submit proof of vaccinations to their schools annually. If a student does not get the required immunizations for school, they must present the school with the following:
- a written statement from a physician stating that the procedure is contraindicated for medical reasons;
- or written dissent from the parent/guardian.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services & Louisiana Department of Health
IMMUNIZATION SCHEDULES
BIRTH – 6YRS
ENGLISH (downloadable schedule)
SPANISH (downloadable schedule)
7 – 18 YRS
ENGLISH (downloadable schedule)
SPANISH (downloadable schedule)
ADULTS
