Back to School Immunizations

It’s back to school time… are you and your family ready? August is typically the time of year that many families get their children ready for school, and are busy checking the school supply list to ensure their children have the proper school supplies for a successful start to the school year.  There is no denying that this is an important part of school readiness. Often overlooked, but equally important are immunizations.

Schools, child care facilities, and preschool programs are prone to outbreaks of infectious diseases.  Children enrolled in these settings can easily spread illness to one another due to poor or improper hand washing techniques, interacting in crowded environments, and not covering coughs or sneezes.

Vaccines provide a safe and powerful tool to protect children from serious infectious diseases, such as measles, mumps, and chicken pox to name a few. 

When children are not immunized they are at an increased risk of contracting infectious diseases.  They can easily spread the disease to others in their classrooms, playgroups, to family members with weakened immunity due to age or health conditions, and the community they live in.

To help families navigate the requirements for immunizations and how to obtain a copy of a child’s immunization, or to answer questions about the safety of immunizations, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have the following links that can provide valuable and current information regarding immunizations and vaccinations.

• Department of Health Immunization   
• CDC Vaccine Safety website 
• CDC parents’guide on vaccines   
• Common Immunization Questions 
• Provider resources for vaccine conversations with parents 

Together let’s keep all children in Washington healthy and ready to learn.