Does your child have the shots needed to go back to school in DC?

From vaping, the cost of school supplies to cellphone policies, the WTOP team is studying up on hot-button topics in education across the D.C. region. Follow on air and online in our series “WTOP Goes Back to School” this August and September.

With D.C. students going back to school later this month, health officials said now is the time to make sure your child has all the required immunizations.

“Kids are required to have these vaccines in order to get into school,” said Dr. Ayanna Bennett, director of DC Health.

She said families have plenty of options when it comes to finding a place to immunize their child for school, including locations that already provide their health care needs.

“They can go to their regular doctor, who has their chart and can talk about development to get them,” Bennett said. “If that is something they don’t have time or schedule for, they can go to a pharmacy. And for school-aged kids, they will give vaccines just the way they did for COVID or for travel.”

D.C. also has seven school-based health centers where immunizations are available, and there will be mobile clinics across the city.

The vaccines students are required to receive before school starts include chickenpox, DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis), hepatitis A, hepatitis B, MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) and polio.

Bennett said even though “every kid has a different level of risk,” it’s important for children to get the shots to help keep schools stay safe and healthy. For example, the District’s measles coverage was less than 80% a few years ago, she said. Now, it is reaching 90%.

“We are looking for that herd immunity that we all learned about during COVID,” Bennett said. “We are looking for that on a lot of infections, and that is the theory behind a lot of vaccines and it’s proven to be very true.”

D.C. schools start classes on Aug. 26.

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