(Washington, DC) – Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser and DC Health remind mother and father and caregivers throughout the District to make sure their youngsters and teenagers receive the required immunizations required for college.
 
“The start of any school year is an exciting time for teachers, students, and families. As we make our back-to-school lists, make sure you have immunizations and well child visits on your list,” mentioned Mayor Bowser. “Every student deserves a strong start to the school year, and that starts on day one and it starts by taking care of their health. By making sure our children are up to date on their immunizations, we can all do our part to keep our schools safe, healthy places of learning.”
 
DC Health recommends that households schedule visits earlier than the primary day of faculty to permit time for any obligatory follow-up appointments or vaccinations. Students in each grade are required to be updated on vaccinations. A abstract of vaccines required to enter key grades within the District might be discovered right here.
 
 
 
The greatest place for DC households to entry required childhood immunizations is thru their medical supplier. However, DC Health and its companions have expanded entry to vaccination providers which embrace:

• School-Based Health Centers: Families with college students ages 3 and older will have the ability to go to any school-based well being heart, no matter the place the coed is enrolled, for a vaccination-only appointment.
• District Mobile Medical Units: Community suppliers are putting cell items at faculties, recreation facilities, and different neighborhood places.
• Pediatric Immunization Clinics: Daily vaccination alternatives carried out alongside neighborhood companions at faculties all through the District.

All pediatric immunization clinics are free, although insured households ought to deliver their insurance coverage playing cards to their immunization appointments.
For extra data on the pediatric immunizations and to seek out the clinics close to you, DC Health’s August calendar has a complete checklist of them. 

For extra data and to register for a pediatric immunization clinic, go to pedsvax.dc.gov.
 
This 12 months, DC Health can be debuting a brand new Electronic Universal Health Certificate (e-UHC) supplier portal. This new portal permits medical suppliers the choice to submit the required UHC well being evaluation kinds immediately to varsities and DC Health. Families whose suppliers take part on this program will now not need to deliver a tough copy of the coed’s UHC to their faculty.
 
By eliminating this barrier, DC Health hopes to extend UHC submission charges to help faculties in understanding the well being wants of their college students.
 
Completing the UHC requires essential properly little one visits that guarantee college students are wholesome, updated on their immunizations, and able to get again to high school.
 
“Well child visits are vital to identify and address any health concerns before they become more serious,” mentioned Dr. Ayana Bennett, Acting Director of DC Health. “These visits also provide an opportunity for parents to discuss any behavioral or developmental concerns with their child’s healthcare provider. We understand that families have faced unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it’s crucial that parents prioritize their children’s health and schedule well child visits with their healthcare provider as soon possible.”
 
Well little one visits sometimes embrace a bodily examination, developmental and behavioral screenings, and vaccinations. These visits are important to watch a toddler’s progress and improvement, guarantee they’re assembly developmental milestones, and stop the unfold of vaccine-preventable illnesses. 
 
 

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