Back-to-School and Immunizations: Resources and more

(KOAM) - With summer coming to an end, parents are busy finalizing back-to-school preparations, including making sure their children are up to date on necessary immunizations.

Immunization requirements differ slightly between states, but most are consistent with those recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) .

Here's a look at what's required in the 4-States for the academic school year of 2024-2025, numbers and resources for parents and community members.

Kansas

Immunization requirements and recommendations for the 2024-2025 school year are based on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations. The current recommended and minimum interval immunization schedules may be found on the CDC webpage .

Kansas Department of Health and Education recently published the Kindergarten Vaccination Coverage Dashboard .

This dashboard provides statewide and school district level data on up-to-date vaccination coverage for school entry vaccines for kindergarteners in Kansas for school years 2019-2020 to 2021-2022.

It also provides information on exemption rates for religious and medical exemptions by school district and statewide.

According to the KDHE, data for the dashboard come from the Kindergarten Vaccination Assessment Survey that is conducted annually.

You can find the data below, or click here .

Oklahoma

In Oklahoma, all children two months of age and older must present an immunization record or file for an exemption before they are allowed to attend child care or school in Oklahoma.

Children may be allowed to attend child care and school if they have received at least one dose of all required vaccines due for their age or grade, and the next doses are not yet due. They must complete the remaining doses of vaccine on schedule. These children are in the process of receiving immunizations.

You can find an informational PDF below, or click here for additional information.

Arkansas

Arkansas law requires all students attending Arkansas schools and licensed childcare facilities to be vaccinated against certain diseases, unless an official exemption form is filed. Details are laid out in the PDF below.

You can learn more about immunizations in the state, including exemption applications, here.

Parents can find more information on the "Vaccines for Children" program here.

Missouri

In Missouri, all students must present documentation of up-to-date immunization status, including month, day, and year of each immunization before attending school.

You can find the immunization requirements below, or click here.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) allows a 4-day grace period. Students in all grade levels may receive immunizations up to four days before the due date.

To remain in school, students “in progress” must have an Immunizations In Progress form (Imm.P.14) on file.

In progress means that a child has begun the vaccine series and has an appointment for the next dose. This appointment must be kept and an updated record provided to the school. If the appointment is not kept, the child is no longer in progress and is noncompliant.

COPYRIGHT 2024 BY KOAM NEWS NOW. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.