Watch: New York ad calls for vaccinations for back-to-school
After New York banned religious exemptions, the state Department of Health began issuing this public service advisory in August 2019 to encourage vaccination.
Joseph Spector, head of the Albany office
- Within 14 days of the first day of school or daycare, parents must provide proof of their child’s current vaccination status or a valid medical exemption from the vaccination requirement.
New York’s back-to-school vaccination season has changed in recent years, underscoring the importance of staying up to date on the latest requirements and guidelines in 2024.
Much of the unrest arose after lawmakers repealed religious or non-medical vaccination exemptions for schools in 2019, affecting about 26,000 unvaccinated children, or 1% of all schoolchildren at the time.
That repeal also appears to have inspired new school-based vaccination programs. Authorities arrested several New York health care providers this year for handing out fake vaccination records to thousands of children as part of their ongoing crackdown on fraud.
At the same time, researchers are studying how many parents would rather homeschool their children or move out of New York than have them vaccinated. A recent study found that a third of all schools in the state’s north may have lost students because the non-medical exemption was lifted.
Still, New York was among only nine states that did not see an increase in vaccine exemptions in schools during the pandemic era, underscoring the fact that the removal of nonmedical exemptions has helped improve overall vaccination rates in New York schools, federal data show.
Here’s what you need to know about school vaccinations in New York City, including which vaccinations children need and expert advice on flu and COVID-19 vaccinations, which are recommended but not required for students.
What vaccinations are required for schools in NY?
Vaccinations required to attend daycare, preschool and kindergarten in 2024 include:
- Diphtheria and tetanus toxoid-containing vaccine and pertussis vaccine (DTaP or Tdap)
- Hepatitis B vaccine
- Measles, mumps and rubella vaccination (MMR)
- Polio vaccine
- Varicella vaccine (chickenpox)
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Additional vaccinations for middle and high school:
- Tdap vaccine for grades 6-12
- Meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MenACWY) for grades 7-12
- Students in grade 12 require an additional booster dose of MenACWY on or after their 16th birthday
Additional vaccinations required for daycare and preschool:
- Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccine (HiB)
- Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV)
By when do I have to get vaccinated for school?
Within 14 days of the first day of school or daycare, parents must:
- Provide proof of your child’s current vaccinations or
- Present a valid medical exemption from the vaccination requirement.
To be able to attend or remain in school or daycare, children who are unvaccinated or overdue for vaccination must receive at least the first dose of all required vaccines within the first 14 days, health authorities said. They must also receive subsequent vaccines within a period of 14 days after the scheduled completion of the immunization series.
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How to get school vaccinations in New York
Although many health insurance plans cover the cost of school vaccinations, authorities urge New York residents to check with their insurance provider about potential costs before getting vaccinated.
The federally funded Vaccines for Children program also provides free vaccinations to eligible children who are uninsured or underinsured. For more information about the program, call 1-800-543-7468 or email [email protected].
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When will you get a flu shot in 2024, new COVID vaccines for children?
Experts recommend getting vaccinated against flu and COVID-19 at the same time in October to protect yourself during the winter.
Health officials recommend that everyone six months of age and older get vaccinated with the updated 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine targets variants currently in circulation and is expected to be available in September.
But health officials are having a hard time convincing New Yorkers to vaccinate their children against COVID-19, because state data shows only about 98,000, or four percent, of children under 19 received the updated COVID-19 vaccine released last fall.
Are vaccine exemptions in schools increasing in the US?
Vaccination coverage in schools nationwide remained at about 93% during the 2022-23 school year, while the exemption rate increased slightly to 3%, the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control reported in November.
Forty-one states have seen an increase in exemptions, with ten states having rates above 5%, the CDC found. Any rate above 5% increases the risk of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.
In New York, the number of exemptions in the CDC study remained unchanged and affected only a fraction of school children across the state. The vaccination rate among kindergarten children was about 97 percent, according to the study.
According to a study earlier this year that included Margaret Doll, associate professor of epidemiology at the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, vaccination coverage in schools in New York State (excluding New York City) increased by about 5.5% in private schools and 1% in public schools due to the removal of nonmedical exemptions in 2019.
The investigation into the number of parents who withdrew their children from New York City schools because of the desegregation is ongoing, said Doll, who is also a co-author of the study that found that a third of schools in the state’s north may have seen enrollment changes as a result of desegregation.
How many deaths can be prevented by childhood vaccinations?
The Vaccines for Children program, launched in 1994, will prevent 1.13 million deaths, 32 million hospitalizations and 508 million illnesses, according to a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The program cost $268 billion, but the savings will amount to $2.9 trillion, the study says. In other words, for every dollar spent on vaccines, the country will save $11 net.
USA TODAY’s Eduardo Cuevas contributed reporting.
David Robinson is the New York State team’s health reporter for the USA TODAY Network. In his more than 15-year career as an investigative reporter, he has received awards for his coverage of the opioid epidemic, hospital and nursing home abuses, health disparities, COVID-19 and emergency response failures.
