Meigs Health Today: School Vaccinations
Meigs Health Today: School Vaccinations
By Sherry Hayman, RN, Public Health Nurse
If routine vaccinations escaped your mind during the pandemic, you are not alone. Unfortunately, regular vaccination numbers fell during 2020 all across the country. However, the Meigs County Health Department is ready and willing to get your child caught up for this school year.
Required vaccines for the 2021-2022 school year are as follows:
Kindergarten – 12th grade
- Dtap- 5 doses
- Polio- 4 doses *
- MMR- 2 doses
- Varicella- 2 doses
- Hib- 4 doses
- Prevnar 13- 4 doses *
* 3 doses are acceptable if 3rd dose was given on or after the fourth birthday with 6mos between doses 2 & 3.
Seventh Grade
- Tdap
- Meningitis A
10th Grade (Age 16)
- Meningitis A
Recommended vaccinations include
- Gardasil- 2-3 doses depending on age
- Meningococcal B- 2 doses
- Hepatitis A- 2 doses
- COVID (for those 12+)
Vaccination is critical throughout childhood because it protects before children are exposed to potentially life-threatening illnesses. Vaccines are evaluated to verify that they are safe and effective when administered to children at the appropriate ages. Delaying, skipping, or refusing vaccinations has no known advantage for children.
We vaccinate to protect our future. But we don’t vaccinate only to protect our children. We also vaccinate to protect our grandchildren and their grandchildren. With one disease, smallpox, we “stopped the leak” in the boat by eradicating the disease. Our children don’t have to get smallpox shots anymore because the disease no longer exists. Smallpox is now only a memory, and if we keep vaccinating against other conditions, the same will someday be true for them. Vaccinations are one of the best ways to put an end to the severe effects of certain diseases.
For more information, contact your child’s healthcare provider or call the Meigs County Health Department at 740-992-6626(Monday-Friday from 8AM-4PM). Vaccines are available for children with commercial insurance and Medicaid and for those who are uninsured on a walk-in basis during business hours.
