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The Florida Department of Health in Osceola has seen a surge in parents coming to get children the various vaccines required to attend school in Florida as the 2021-22 school year starts this morning.
As the debate over whether to require COVID-19 vaccinations for students and school staff continues, longstanding immunization requirements against once-rampant diseases like polio still stand.
The Florida Department of Health in Osceola has seen a surge in parents coming to get children the various vaccines required to attend school in Florida as the 2021-22 school year starts Thursday morning.
Over the past few weeks, the local health department has immunized children of all ages against a range of diseases such as polio, chickenpox, hepatitis B and measles, said spokesman Jeremy Lanier.
“We’ve also been asking them to consider getting the COVID-19 vaccine too, but it’s not required for school entry,” he said.
Children don’t have to get their shots at the health department, he said. Parents can go to their own healthcare providers or free clinics for the shots
All vaccines distributed to children in the state are recorded in Florida Shots, a statewide database that helps healthcare providers and schools track immunization records.
The intent is to “ensure that patients of all ages receive the vaccinations needed to protect them from dangerous vaccine-preventable diseases.”
Upon vaccinating their children, parents receive state-issued Florida Form DH 680 also called the Florida Certification of Immunization, which they then present to the school for enrollment.
The state requires five specific vaccines (some multiples doses) for students in kindergarten through 12th grade before they can enter the classroom. But it doesn’t always work out in that order.
“Typically what happens every year is that our nurses will look through the vaccination records of students at each of the schools and verify that they are current with their shots. If they are not, they notify the school and a letter is sent to parents reminding them of the required vaccinations,” Lanier said Tuesday.
“The parent can then go to a healthcare provider, including our health department, to receive their vaccinations. Once all the vaccinations are received, they submit a 680 form with the vaccinations listed to the school.”
Statewide vaccines requirements apply to all public and private schools in Florida, including daycare facilities, where children ages 4 and younger are required to get eight vaccines in order to attend.
According to the National Academy for State Health Policy, five routine childhood vaccines generally are required for all children attending all public and private daycares and K-12 schools in the U.S. They include: diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus, or DTaP, for daycares and schools measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, for daycares and schools polio for daycares and schools varicella, or chickenpox, for daycares and schools Haemophilus influenzae type B, or Hib, typically only for daycares
Most school requirements follow the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine schedule for children. The CDC sets adult and childhood immunization schedules based on recommendations from its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
All 50 states have laws requiring specific vaccines for students, but there are also exemptions.
There are three kinds of exemptions available in Florida, according to the state Department of Health.
Healthcare providers can grant a Temporary Medical Exemption for those in the process of completing any necessary immunizations or a Permanent Medical Exemption if a child cannot be fully immunized due to medical reasons. In this case, the child’s physician must state in writing, the reasons for exemption based on valid clinical reasoning or evidence.
Both the exemptions are documented on Florida Form DH 680.
Parents can also apply for an exemption based on their family’s religion. This exemption is issued by local health departments and is “based on established religious beliefs or practices only,” according to the state. It’s filed through the Florida Form DH 680. It must document why the vaccines conflict with their religious tenets and practices.
Meanwhile, the debate over masks requirements by school districts has reached a fever pitch since Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order banning mask mandates in schools.
The July 30 order directed the state’s health and education departments to create new policies that prevent the implementation of mask mandates in school to “protect parents’ freedom to choose whether their children wear masks.”
The Osceola County School Board in July voted to make wearing face masks in school optional for students. For more information, go to http://www.floridahealth.gov/programs-and-services/immunization/children-and-adolescents/_documents/school-guide.pdf.
