Get Immunized for a Healthy School Year

By Jean Yaeger

Children and teens need up-to-date shot records to start the new school year, and the doctors at Cook Children’s are eager to help get students caught up on their routine immunizations.

Alice Phillips, M.D. at Cook Children’s Pediatrics Cityview said vaccines can prevent contagious diseases such as hepatitis, measles and mumps from spreading through the classroom and to family members at home.

“We can look back at history and see stories about polio and whooping cough and the toll that that took on our kids and on our society. We do not want to go back to that,” Dr. Phillips said. “Vaccines are safe. They work. And they are tried and true and proven over many decades.”

But the latest annual immunization report by the Texas Department of State Health Services identified a drop in overall vaccination coverage among kindergarteners during the 2021-2022 school year. The report also cited a high number of seventh-graders behind on shots for meningitis and Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis).

In the report, the COVID-19 pandemic was listed as the main reason more children missed out on their required vaccines last year. Additional barriers to immunization include lack of transportation, missed opportunities, lengthy wait, and lack of culturally appropriate educational materials, according to the state health department.

Dr. Phillips pointed out that only 85% of Fort Worth Independent School District kindergarten students were current with their measles shots last school year. To reach herd immunity, and limit transmission, the rate should be 90-95%, she said.

Many families were afraid to come to the pediatrician for their child’s annual checkup during the early months of the pandemic in 2020, Dr. Phillips said. Most of her patients have since received any overdue vaccines.  

Heather Miller, M.D. at Cook Children’s Neighborhood Clinic Northside also saw a trend of families not making appointments -- or canceling, or not showing up -- for well-child visits because of COVID-19 concerns during the past two years. To make up for the shots they missed, some 6-year-olds are now coming in for vaccines normally given at age 4.  

Dr. Miller has good news for children and teens who fell behind: There are combination vaccines that can be given in most cases, meaning “fewer pokes,” as she puts it.

Most of the patients that Dr. Miller and her colleagues see at the Neighborhood Clinic Northside are on Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which is available to those who can’t afford private health coverage. She wants parents to know that the Texas Vaccines for Children Program provides vaccines to eligible children from birth through age 18.

Dr. Miller says getting back-to-school vaccinations will help protect children from potentially serious complications from those diseases. “That’s why we’re here,” she said, “to help keep children healthy.”

Cook Children’s families can go to the MyCookChildren’s patient portal to schedule an appointment or access the immunization records needed for school registration. Dr. Miller said the staff at the neighborhood clinics can help their families navigate the portal or print out a copy of immunization records. 

In addition to the delays the pandemic caused, Dr. Phillips believes vaccine hesitancy also played a role in the 2021-2022 drop in the immunization rate.  She invites parents to ask questions and talk to the doctor about any concerns.  

“Let me discuss with you what I know – the science, the data – to tell you why these vaccines are safe for your child and why they are effective at preventing illness for not only your child but all of their friends and the community,” said Dr. Phillips, who describes a team partnership of trust between the physician and patient families working together to keep kids healthy.

“I truly believe after 25 years of doing this, that what’s absolutely best for their child is to be fully immunized and protected, because these diseases are still out there,” Dr. Phillips said.

Vaccines Checklist

Because many vaccines are typically given in the first 12-18 months of life, an incoming kindergartner might not have received a vaccine since her first birthday. Between the ages of 4-6, these additional vaccines are due:

• MMR (measles, mumps and rubella)
• DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis)
•  IPV (inactivated poliovirus)
•  Varicella (chickenpox)

And an incoming seventh-grader might not have received a vaccine since he was a preschooler. Between the ages of 11-12 years, these additional vaccines are due:

• MCV4 (meningitis)
• Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis)
• HPV (human papillomavirus)

A booster of the meningitis vaccine is also recommended at age 16.

Cook Children’s follows the vaccine schedule adopted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

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For 10 key facts about immunizations, including why it’s important to follow a vaccination schedule, go to Vaccine and Immunization (cookchildrens.org)

To view the recommended ages for shots from birth through the teen years, go to cook-childrens-vaccinefacts2.pdf (cookchildrens.org)