The Vaccines Kids Need

Whether you're only just finally wiping the tears away from sending your first child off to kindergarten or have preteens navigating the waters of junior high, the weeks around back-to-school can be a bit hectic. Adding to all the busyness this time of year normally brings, returning to school in a pandemic has presented its own set of challenges and questions. Did you opt for your child to participate in remote learning full time, or a hybrid of at-home and in-person? Do you continue to worry about how your kids will handle wearing a mask all day? The questions and concerns seemingly stretch on and on.

With so much on your mind it's natural that a few things might get lost in the shuffle. And while some slip-ups aren't such a big deal (does anyone really care if you accidentally bought a blue folder instead of a red one?), others could have serious consequences. Top of your don't-forget-about-it list: making sure your kids have the vaccines they need to attend school and stay healthy all year long. (Spoiler alert: Yes, they still need them even if they’re doing full remote learning.)

Before you panic about how you'll manage to get this done, you should know that your children might already have all the immunizations they need for this school year. That's very likely the case if you've been taking them to a pediatrician for regular checkups and your doctor has been following the vaccine schedule put out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

According to the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), kids should be immunized against a slew of diseases long before they enter school. By age 5 (when kids typically enter kindergarten), your child should be partially or fully immunized against:

• Hepatitis B (HepB)
• Rotavirus
• Diphtheria
• Tetanus and pertussis (DTaP)
• Haemophilus influenzae type b4 (Hib)
• 13 types of pneumococcal bacteria (PCV13)
• Polio
• Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR)
• Varicella (chickenpox)
• Hepatitis A (HepA)

Your child should also get a flu vaccine annually. Some parents worry that this is an awful lot of shots to get in a short period, especially since many of these (per the CDC and AAP guidelines) are supposed to be given during the first two years of life. But getting your kids vaccinated is one of the best things you can do for their health, says Valerie Cohen, DO, a pediatrician at Northwell Health Cohen Children’s Medical Center and assistant professor at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. To that end, Cohen cites New York's recent polio case and evidence of community spread of the disease as further proof of why staying current with your child's vaccinations is vitally important.

"Scientific data shows that getting several vaccines at the same time is completely safe and does not cause any chronic health problems," she says. "The risk of not immunizing your child is much greater than the risks from the vaccines." The most common side effects of vaccines are pain or redness at the injection site, fever, or irritability. Vaccines are one of the most well-studied and well-researched aspects of medicine.

And as schools and our new fall routines get underway, it signals that another season is right around the corner: flu season.

Although influenza is an important health topic every year, LaVine emphasizes that it’s more important than ever to get your flu shot—especially with the ongoing risk of COVID-19 looming. And other experts agree.

Mitchell Boxer, MD, an allergy and immunologist with Northwell, says it is particularly important for patients to get the flu vaccine as the two are “separate, distinct viruses,” making it possible for a patient to get both COVID and influenza.

If your child has started school for the first time and you haven't been following the AAP’s recommended schedule, talk to your doctor about how to catch up. To enter public school as a kindergartner, children in all 50 states must be vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis; polio; measles and rubella; and chickenpox. Individual states may have additional requirements: In New York, for example, incoming kindergartners must also be protected against mumps, HepB, and Hib.

Whether you’ve chosen in-person education or full-time virtual instruction for your child, up-to-date vaccinations remain a requirement of registering for and attending school.

“Every year babies and children still get sick and die from illnesses that vaccines could have prevented such as the flu, measles, meningitis, and whooping cough,” says New York State’s Department of Health. “Vaccinations help make a child's immune system strong so they can fight disease.”

Just how serious are these vaccine-preventable diseases? Diphtheria is a respiratory infection that was often fatal before the vaccine against it was introduced. Tetanus is caused by bacteria that are found in soil and dust, and if it gets into an open wound it can lead to painful vocal cord spasms, pneumonia, and sometimes death. HepA is a serious liver disease, and Hib can cause meningitis (an infection of the covering of the brain and spinal cord) in children.

Pertussis, also called whooping cough, is a respiratory infection that makes it hard to breathe. It’s particularly dangerous for babies. There are still semi-frequent outbreaks in the U.S., which usually occur when a cluster of people decide to forgo vaccination. There have been recent outbreaks of measles and mumps in this country, too. Cohen notes, “The immunity from certain vaccines wanes over time, which is why it is so important to be aware of and get your booster shots, as well.”

Rubella (German measles) causes miscarriage or serious birth defects, but thankfully the vaccine has virtually wiped it out in the U.S. Polio has been eradicated here as well. But that doesn't mean you can skip these shots: "If someone with polio comes to the United States, you would be in danger of contracting it if you hadn't gotten the vaccine," says Cohen.

If your children are a bit older, you may assume that they already had all their required vaccinations years ago, but that's not true. The CDC recommends that kids get the first dose of the meningococcal (meningitis) vaccine at age 11 or 12, along with a booster shot for tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (TDap).

If you live in New York state, your child is required to have had at least one dose of the meningococcal vaccine before entering 7th grade; the second dose is required before 12th grade. People age 15 to 21 have the greatest risk of meningitis, which is why it makes sense to protect your kids at this time.

Although not a requirement to attend public school, the CDC also recommends that both girls and boys get the first dose of the HPV vaccine at age 11 or 12 and that they complete the full series before age 13. Most health experts suggest that this vaccine be given before a person becomes sexually active because HPV (human papillomavirus) is a common sexually transmitted disease that can lead to cervical cancer, penile cancer, throat cancer, and genital warts. So while it is suggested to get the series prior to the onset of sexual activity, the vaccine still works on individuals who are sexually active and is approved for everyone up to age 26.

If you've heard that the HPV vaccine is dangerous or will spur risky behavior, feel free to discuss your concerns with your doctor—but know that most of the supposed harms out there have been debunked. "It's a vaccine that prevents cancer,” says Cohen, “Who wouldn't want that?"

• Meet with Dr. Valerie Cohen, pediatrician.
• Is thinking about the HPV vaccine causing you S-T-R-E-S-S? You're not alone.
• Read about The Power of Prevention with vaccines.