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As the new school year approaches, ensuring the health and well-being of children becomes a critical priority for parents, schools, and communities. Well Child visits and vaccinations play a pivotal role in safeguarding children’s health, preventing the spread of infectious diseases, and fostering safe school environment. Despite the proven benefits, a significant number of children do not receive timely well child visits or are not up to date with their vaccinations.
In DC, vaccination coverage has been improving year over year from the pandemic recovery. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest Kindergarten Vaccination Coverage report, DC improved nearly 10% in the last two school years for key vaccines like MMR (measles, mumps and rubella). As of May 2024, DC’s coverage for MMR was 92%, but exemption rates have been rising, contributing to the vulnerability of school communities to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.
To stay on-schedule with routine immunizations and pediatric care, it is of utmost importance for parents to collaborate with their child’s medical provider to ensure they catch up on missed well-child visits and school-required vaccines. Well-child visits serve as essential health check-ups for multiple reasons, including:
The Immunization Division, which is part of DC Health’s Health Care Access Bureau, in the Community Health Administration helps reduce the spread of vaccine preventable diseases to residents, visitors, and those working or doing business in the District. This is accomplished through education and community engagement, analyzing and interpreting vaccine coverage data, administering the federal government Vaccines for Children/317, and facilitating access to vaccination for priority populations.
The Division hosts the District of Columbia Immunization Information System (DOCIIS), which is a population health data management system holding over 1 million unique immunization records. Beginning in 2021, the Immunization Division upgraded DOCIIS to improve data quality and share and/or exchange immunization data with stakeholders. To date, over 250 providers contribute immunization data to DOCIIS.
In 2022, the Immunization Division launched a companion reporting tool, the Immunization Compliance Portal to allow users to assess and monitor school and student immunization compliance. In 2023 and 2024, we have continued to upgrade this tool adding additional reporting and the ability to print letters notifying families of missing vaccines and mailing labels. These functional improvements serve to facilitate the work of school nurses, IPOCs, and school leaders ensuring that children are immunized and eligible to attend school.
In an effort to ensure all students remain safe and up to date with immunization compliance, the Immunization Division shifted its approach to enforcement in 2023 to focus on four key grades for temporary exclusion. Non-compliant students in grades Pre-K3, Kindergarten, 7 and 11 will be eligible for temporary exclusion. These grades were selected because they occur soon after age bands in which vaccines are first recommended. Most students in these grades will not age into non-compliance during the school year.
Recently, the Immunization Division has also done the following:
To increase the number of children receiving well child visits and vaccinations before the start of the school year by raising awareness about the importance of well child visits and vaccinations; provide clear, accessible information about how and where to obtain these services; reduce barriers to access, such as cost, transportation, and appointment availability; and collaborate with District government education partners, schools, healthcare providers, and community organizations to promote the campaign.
The primary target audience for this campaign is families of school-aged children (ages 3-18) and the secondary target audience is District Government education partners, healthcare providers, school administrators, community organizations, and policymakers.
Radio PSA
Hey DC families, the school year is just around the corner! Is your child ready?
Make sure they are up to date with their vaccinations by scheduling their well child visit. These visits are essential for tracking growth, catching health issues early, and keeping them protected from serious diseases.
Call your healthcare provider or visit dc health-dot-dc-dot-gov slash immunizations to find a clinic near you. That’s dc health-dot-dc-dot-gov slash immunizations.
Let’s keep our kids healthy and ready to learn by putting vaccines on your back-to-school list.
A message from DC Health and Mayor Muriel Bowser.
(Ask the Office of Communications and Community Relations to view other versions)
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