The Pennsylvania Department of Education, Health, Human Services, and Insurance are reminding families to ensure their children’s immunizations are up to date as part of back-to-school preparations. Vaccine-preventable diseases, such as chicken pox, meningitis, measles, whooping cough, and others are still seen across the commonwealth. Keeping children up to date on vaccinations is the best way to keep them healthy and reduce unnecessary absences from school. Staying up to date with immunizations provides the best protection against disease and is essential to individual and population health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognizes August as National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM). This annual observance highlights the importance of getting recommended vaccines. Whether children are homeschooled or attend a public, private, charter, or religious school, state laws require they stay up to date for certain vaccinations based on their age, as recommended by the CDC. Additional information on immunizations can be found on the Pennsylvania Department of Health website.
