AUSTIN, TX - (May 21, 2009) - Earlier this year, the Texas Department of State Health Services announced new rules for school immunization requirements, mandating new vaccinations that will primarily affect kindergarten and seventh grade students.
As of today, 10,000 students in the Austin Independent School District will need to update their immunization records before the start of class on Monday, Aug. 24.
The parents of these students will receive letters in
their mailboxes during the next week, with notification that
their students' immunization records are not current with one
or more vaccines.
Dell Children's, in collaboration with other community health
partners, are working together to ensure all students'
immunizations are current before the start of
school.
The new vaccination requirements include the
following:
• Hepatitis A Vaccine - students entering kindergarten will be
required to have two doses of Hepatitis A vaccine.
• Measles, Mumps, Rebella (MMR) vaccine - students entering
kindergarten will be required to have two doses of the MMR
vaccine.
• Varicella Vaccine - students entering kindergarten and the
seventh grade will be required to have two doses of varicella
vaccine.
• Tetanus, Diptheria and acellular pertussis-containing vaccine
(Tdap) - all seventh grade students will be required to have
one dose of Tdap vaccine. Seventh graders will be required to
have a booster dose of Tdap only if it has been five years
since their last dose of tetanus-containing vaccine. Students
in grades 8-12 are required to have a booster dose of Tdap if
it has been 10 years since their previous dose of
tetanus-containing vaccine.
• Meningococcal Vaccine - all seventh graders will be required
to have one dose of meningococcal vaccine.
For more a complete list of community resources and AISD immunization clinic dates, times and locations visit www.austinvaccinates.org
Seton is proud to have four hospitals – the only hospitals in Central Texas - that have earned the