Beat The Back-to-School Rush With Summer Vaccine Appointments

The school year is quickly drawing to a close. Kids are turning in final projects, signing yearbooks, and cleaning out their desks and lockers. Parents are making arrangements for summer camp, play dates, pool parties, and other fun-filled summer activities. It seems like the next school year is eons away. But the truth is, the 2026-27 school year will be here in a flash! As sad as it is, summers tend to fly by. Before long, families will be shopping for school supplies and signing their kids up for after-school extracurricular activities. To avoid the back-to-school scramble, families can beat the rush and make well-child and vaccine appointments for their child now. Before summer is in full swing, check disease protection off your family’s to-do list! 

Why Are Vaccines Required For School?

Certain vaccines are required by state law for children attending school and child care to prevent the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases. Let’s face it: schools are a germ’s best friend. Most parents know all too well the way that bugs can circulate at school; if one kid gets sick, there’s a good chance many others will too. At school, kids are close together in small spaces, sharing materials and touching shared surfaces like desks and playground equipment. Younger kids are still learning to cough and sneeze into their elbow and keep their hands out of their nose and mouth. 

Unfortunately there is not a vaccine for the common cold. But there are vaccines against other highly contagious diseases like measles and whooping cough that can spread easily at school. To keep students and school staff protected from these diseases, states require that kids be vaccinated against them in order to attend school. High vaccination rates in a school can help keep these diseases at bay. 

Students deserve a healthy environment – one that fosters well-being and supports learning. Vaccines are an essential way to do this! They protect the students and the community around them, including people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons or are immunocompromised. 

U.S. vaccine requirements for school date back to the 1850s when they were first used to curb smallpox outbreaks. By 1980, all 50 states had enacted school vaccine requirements. These have helped drastically reduce infections, hospitalizations, and deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases.

Which Vaccines Are Required?

The vaccines required for school and child care vary by state. In Colorado, these vaccines are required:

Preschool and child care students:	K-12 students:
– Hepatitis B (HepB) – Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTaP) – Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) – Inactivated poliovirus (IPV) – Pneumococcal conjugate (PCV) – Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) – Varicella (chickenpox) Learn more about preschool and child care requirements.	– Varicella (chickenpox) – Hepatitis B – Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTaP) – Inactivated poliovirus (IPV) – Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) – Tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (Tdap) Learn more about K-12 requirements.

A common misconception is that school vaccine requirements force parents to vaccinate their kids. This is not true. In Colorado, families can exempt their child from these vaccine requirements by completing an exemption certificate. Students with an exemption on file may be kept out of school during an outbreak since they are at higher risk than vaccinated students. 

While parents can opt out of getting their children vaccinated, health experts do not recommend this. That’s because the potential risks from getting sick with a vaccine-preventable disease are much higher than the small potential for a serious allergic reaction to the vaccine (1 in 1 million doses). Vaccines are the best way to protect kids from getting sick and missing school. 

Where Can My Family Get Vaccines?

Your child’s healthcare provider can administer all recommended vaccines at regular well-child check ups or separate vaccine appointments. You can also get some vaccines at pharmacies and local public health departments. Most health insurance plans are required to cover the cost of getting vaccinated. Kids without health insurance can still get vaccinated through the Vaccines for Children program that provides free vaccines to low-income or uninsured children. Learn more at ImmunizeForGood.com. 

Before the summer chaos sets in, call your child’s doctor to see what vaccines they might need for school entry and schedule a vaccine appointment. By checking vaccines off the to-do list now, there will be one less thing to worry about come August–and more summer fun to be had!