Coryell Health's Katy Waters explains the importance of back-to-school vaccinations

With August being back to school season and National Immunization Awareness Month, it is important to remember to obtain your child’s vaccinations before they return to the classroom.

“Back-to-school indicates the perfect time every year to review your child’s records and ensure they are up-to-date on their routine vaccinations,” Katy Waters APRN, FNP-C with Coryell Health said. “Schools are just one of the many places where sickness spreads quickly, and taking the time to catch-up on any missed immunizations at the beginning of the year can help keep your child healthy, in school, and ready to learn.”

When determining which vaccinations your child needs, refer to the following:

Ages 6 months and up: Annual influenza vaccine recommended.

Ages 4-6: DTAP (5^th dose), Polio (4^th dose), MMR (2^nd dose), and Chickenpox (2^nd dose)

Ages 7-10: Recommended time for catching up.

Ages 11-12: TDAP, HPV (recommended for boys and girls and is a two-dose series), and Meningococcal

Ages 13-15: Recommended time for catching up.

Age 16: Meningococcal (2^nd dose)

Ages 17-18: Recommended time for catching up/finalizing childhood vaccinations.

Waters expressed that starting the process to get your child vaccinated is not hard at all.

“Parents or guardians just need to call and schedule an appointment with their primary care provider,” she said. “This can be completed under a well-child visit or just an immunizations appointment. If your child does not have a primary care provider or see a pediatrician elsewhere, it can easily be resolved by calling Coryell Health and scheduling an establish care appointment with any provider.”

She also explained that it would be helpful to bring your child’s immunization records or to call ahead and let the office know where your child has been seen before. This is important for the doctors to assess what the child needs during the visit.

Obtaining your child’s records can be done through several options.

The easiest route would be to contact the doctor’s office or medical system that your child has received vaccinations with and request the documents. It will most likely be required that the parent or guardian go in-person to sign a release of medical information form to collect the records.

Another way would be to contact the school nurse. In some cases, records are kept for several years after the child has left the school system or campus and they can be retrieved for the parent or guardian’s records.

“Vaccinations can help prevent diseases that can seriously harm or kill infants, children, and adults,” Waters said. “By starting and maintain a vaccination schedule, parents are actively taking part in the most effective preventative health measure to combat disease for their children.”