CDC COMMUNITY GUIDE: Universally Recommended Vaccinations: Vaccination Requirements for Child Care, School, & College Attendance

CDC

An Evidence-Based Practice

Description

Vaccination requirements are laws or policies requiring vaccinations or other documentation of immunity as a condition of child care, school, and college attendance. Their purpose is to reduce the incidence of vaccine-preventable disease and associated morbidity and mortality by increasing vaccination rates.

Laws are created by states, with the specific vaccines required established by the legislature and embodied in statutes or adopted as administrative rules by health or education departments. Institutions, such as colleges and private schools, may establish additional vaccination policies for attendance or residence.

Vaccination requirements vary across jurisdictions by:
• Comprehensiveness
• Acceptable documentation of immunity
• Access to exemptions (especially nonmedical exemptions)
• The type and consistency of enforcement

Results / Accomplishments

The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends vaccination requirements for child care, school, and college attendance based on strong evidence of effectiveness in increasing vaccination rates and in decreasing rates of vaccine-preventable disease and associated morbidity and mortality. These findings are based on studies demonstrating effectiveness of vaccination requirements:
• For attendance in a variety of settings
• For an array of recommended vaccines
• In populations ranging in age from early childhood to late adolescence

About this Promising Practice

Primary Contact
The Community Guide
1600 Clifton Rd, NE
MS E69
Atlanta, GA 30329
(404) 498-1827
communityguide@cdc.gov
https://www.thecommunityguide.org/
Topics
Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases
Community / Governance
Source
Community Guide Branch Epidemiology and Analysis Program Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Location
USA
For more details
Target Audience
Children, Teens, Adults