Shots - 6 grade

[mymickeysbetterthanyours]

Anyone had experience of transferring to US public school? Specifically re shots?

The required shots may vary from State to State but in my State the vaccination schedule is available to view online. Each child is required to have an updated vaccination record on file before starting school although I believe medical and religious exemptions are allowed.

Yes I have - what are your questions?

I have done this for 5th grade this week. What are your questions?

Don't stress about it. My kids are behind for their shots and I filed a religious exemption so the school administrators aren't in trouble with the state.

We just got updated when we arrived here. Bring your vaccine record as they want proof of what you have. And make sure the handwriting is legible and no date mistakes, better yet, get the record printed out from your GP, no quibbles then

(You can tell I had issues can’t you. There are no eye rolls big enough for the bureaucracy here)

Contact your local school district in the area you will be moving to and they’ll send you a link to the shots requirements.

Ask your U.K. GP to print out your vaccination records.

Bear in mind that even if you think you are up to date you might need some additional shots. My kids needed to have some redone because local regulations said they should be done at 4yo and my D.C. were 3yo when they had them.

Some shots like Hep A and B need to be done over a period of months. We were able to start school as long as the first dose had been given but the school nurse was very quick to remind us when the next shot was due.

Finally we had to get shots done in order to start school and that was before our medical insurance cards had come through so we had to pay for them ourselves. It was hundreds of dollars.

It would have been cheaper to pay to get them in the U.K. had we understood the requirements a bit better.

Finally you may need to self certify for chicken pox. All that was required was that I write a formal letter stating exactly when my D.C. had Chicken Pox.

Also be aware that not all states have religious exemptions (such as California) so that might not be an option. It would be easier and cheaper to get in sync with the requirements of wherever you're going while in the U.K. At least some states require that the immunization records be put onto a specific form as well have a phycical exam for the child prior to enrolling, so you would need to bring your records and child to a local GP when you arrive to complete this.

(You can tell I had issues can’t you. There are no eye rolls big enough for the bureaucracy here)

When we switched from one doctor's practice to another, a nurse incorrectly transcribed DD1's vaccination record, then of course I started getting pissy phone calls from the school nurse. Joy!

If your dc have had chicken pox it might be worth getting your UK GP to document this. Mine both had chicken pox but had to have the vaccine here because it wasn't documented anywhere. I offered to show them photos and scars but they would only take a doctor's note as proof.

I was pleasantly surprised by the cost here. We had to pay for shots before our insurance kicked in. We're in SC and they charge $13 per vaccine up to a maximum of $39 per child no matter how many they have.

Yep had issues here too and my DC were born here and have only seen doctors here in America. Quite how there could be an issue I don't know but there was. When I looked at the back of the form there was an exemption issue and a quick Google found that I could tick the religious exemption box and there would be no more bureaucratic nightmares. I ticked the damn box, signed the form and handed it back in with a sweet smile asking if that would do. They said yes and I high tailed it out of that school, went home and made a strong cup of tea. Brit abroad 1 America 0.

Thanks all and sorry for delay I’ve been offline for a while. My concern is the school guidelines for some shots say they need 3 doses (for example) and I’m worried that we are running out of time. Our relocation person seems to think we can just get everything done in one go when we arrive. I think I’m going to contact one of the healthcare providers in the state for another opinion.

I’ve checked and our state does support a religious exemption. Will they not to know more detail or ask why you have had some shots and not others if you use this route?

Nope they never asked me. Just took the form and processed it. Apparently this is how anti vaccines parents circumvent the rules.

They also never asked for which shots had been had or not.

Thanks for the info want2b - I’ll do a bit more research tomorrow.

You are welcome. Hopefully it helps you. I'm a firm believer of getting the vaccinations but they go crazy here with all the paperwork. You should look to make sure you have the right vaccines but do so later on.

I’m guessing that the specific vaccine is the dTaP where the UK we have 4 doses before school age but many states they require 5 doses. You should be able to get this at any pediatrician or GP if still in the UK. For the HepB, the school will more than likely let you start with the 1st dose but you will need to ensure follow up doses are given.

Not the states.
We had issues with getting "extra" boosters in the UK before travelling - if we met the UK requirements, they declined to give the kids the extra course (to meet number or age requirements) as orivate or nhs patients.
As it was, we moved schools shortly after arriving, and got faced with another set of vac requirements..... we had 45 days from starting school to get the courses started. Might be worth seeing if the booster courses needs to be complete or just started?

"My concern is the school guidelines for some shots say they need 3 doses (for example) and I’m worried that we are running out of time." As long as they've started the course they will be fine and will be allowed to start school. We've been here six months and my dc just had the last of their required shots (final hep B and varicella) last week.

Mymickey my kids were allowed to start with one dose each of Hep A and Hep B. The school
Nurse then write to us before the next dose was due reminding us to get the shot and to email her a copy of the vaccination conformation.

We also needed to get Tdap again here.

Please don’t worry too much about the vaccinations. It’s easy enough to get what you need, we weren’t even registered with a doctor when we got our additional vaccinations here.

We just showed up at a walk in clinic based on our local supermarket and the nurses there sorted us out (reliving us of about $500 ).

I didn’t find the paperwork particularly onerous you just need your UK vaccinations record and the school registrar will telling you what you are missing.

I've just had a letter from school saying they are adding a requirement for students to have the meningococcal vaccination before 7th and 12th grade - this is new in my state. I need to check if my kids are up to date. I know my boarding school student has had it but not sure about the others.

$500 OP if you look up your state's local health offices you should be able to get the vaccines much cheaper. As I said earlier our state charges a maximum of $39 per child no matter how many they have.

Queen I imagine it varies from state to state. As far as I am aware we wouldn’t have been eligible for the the low cost vaccine program here due to our income.

We wouldn't have been either in our state. When we went to Latin America I had the kids shots done in UK and we had to pay because they weren't part of UK system. It was as cheap for us to pay in US this time as insurance covered a lot.

Really appreciate everyone’s input here - haven’t told DD she will need vaccinations yet as she’s already anxious about the move. Off topic but would you recommend I start getting her familiarised with the US curriculum in advance. Hopefully she’ll be ok generally but she’s had only very limited exposure to US history.