Shots must be up to date for school

With the beginning of a new school year fast approaching, the Georgia Department of Human Resources wants to remind parents that Georgia law requires children to be fully immunized when starting school. The requirement applies to children who are starting kindergarten, as well as to students who are entering Georgia schools for the first time, regardless of age or grade level.

Although the majority of childhood immunizations are given by the time a child is two years old, a final round of vaccinations is needed at age four-to-five, generally the age children begin kindergarten. In addition, children entering the 6th grade are required to have both a second dose of measles-containing vaccine (usually MMR — measles/mumps/rubella) and the varicella (chickenpox) vaccine if they have not previously received those.

"Immunization continues to be one of the most important and cost-effective means of protecting our children from serious and sometime life-threatening illness," said Dr. Stuart Brown, director of the Division of Public Health. "In the close quarters of a school, where infections can spread rapidly, it is especially important that children are fully immunized for their own protection."

In Georgia, children entering school for the first time - either as a kindergartener or because they have transferred from out of state - are required to have a completed Georgia Certificate of Immunization. The certificate, which can be certified by either a Health Department or doctor, certifies that a child has received all required immunizations. Children who are new to the state will need to have the immunization records from their previous state of residence transferred to the Georgia Certificate of Immunization, which can be done at any local Health Department, or by the child's physician. Georgia law allows school districts to exclude children from school if they are not fully immunized.

Required childhood immunizations are available at all local health departments in Georgia. Local health departments are also excellent resources for information about immunizations generally, including school-entry immunizations, the Georgia Registry of Immunization Transactions and Services (GRITS), and the recommended childhood immunization schedule.