Staying Up to Date on Vaccinations
As we enter late August, the back to school commercials are in full circulation and supply lists for the classroom are arriving in the mail. Another item that should be on a parent’s to do list this month? Checking on your child’s vaccinations to ensure they’re up to date, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Making sure all vaccinations are up to date will give them protection from a wide range of potentially serious diseases as they head to the classroom for another year of learning and growth, and prevent diseases from spreading. This also keeps children who can’t be vaccinated due to medical conditions or have a weak immune system more protected.
According to the CDC, “In 2012-13, 96.1 percent of all kindergarteners had received all of the immunizations required by Minnesota’s school immunization law to protect them against vaccine-preventable diseases” with 1.6 percent of students entering kindergarten being exempt from all vaccines.
For an easy way to stay up to date on your child’s vaccinations, visit the Minnesota Department of Health website. There, you can find immunization schedules (below) for infants, children and adolescents as well as forms to keep track of the vaccinations your child has had to make providing records a breeze.
Stay up to date on vaccinations with this chart from the Minnesota Department of Health
Do you have any best practices for staying on top of medical records and vaccinations? We always love passing along tips to help parents stay organized with their family’s healthcare!
Originally published: August 16, 2013