July 8, 2024

‌Back-to-School Readiness Starts with Immunizations

Immunization appointments often become scarce as the summer break ends. Your school’s actions now can help make sure your students are up to date on their immunizations and ready to learn. 

Back-to-School Strategies to Consider: 

• Follow up with students who were admitted conditionally and are due for immunizations.
• Outreach to families of students advancing into 7th grade and all new and transfer students that students need to meet immunization requirements before the start of school. Include the Parents’ Guide to Immunizations Required for School Entry | Spanish | Arabic | Armenian | Cambodian | Chinese (Simplified) | Farsi | Hmong | Korean | Russian | Tagalog | Vietnamese
• Use these templates to let parents know which shots their children need: Letter to Parents: Immunizations Needed | Spanish | Arabic | Chinese (Simplified) | Farsi | Hindi | Hmong | Japanese | Korean | Punjabi | Russian | Thai | Tagalog | Ukrainian | Vietnamese.
• Tailor these robocall scripts or email templates to encourage families to make an appointment with their doctor now to get up to date with all recommended vaccines, including HPV (starting at age 9), COVID-19, and flu (when available).
• Inform parents and guardians that they can request access to their children’s Digital Vaccine Record to share as proof of immunization. Staff can also use SCRL to determine which children are up to date, conditional, or overdue for required immunizations.

Schools interested in hosting their own vaccination events can find resources including a Letter of Support, Promotional Toolkit, and more on the School-Located Vaccine Event Resources page.

Additional Resources

• Free online training for school staff on immunization requirements
• Communicating about School Immunization Requirements flyer
• Don’t Wait Vaccinate campaign toolkit
• California Vaccines for Children (VFC) provider locator
• Preteen Vaccine Recommendations flyer for parents | Spanish | Arabic | Chinese | Hmong | Russian | Tagalog | Ukrainian | Vietnamese
• Ready for 7th Grade? poster | Spanish
• Routine Immunizations on Schedule for Everyone (RISE) initiative (CDC)

See cdph.ca.gov/shotsforschool for more resources to help implement immunization requirements in your school.