About a dozen states comply with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations for vaccines for school-aged children.   The states have the power to enforce vaccine requirements at the school house door.

Since about 180,000 people become sick with Hepatitis A each year, and since that includes about 60,000 children, CDC recommends Hepatitis A vaccines for children entering Kindergarten for the 2009-10 school year. 

Here is the vaccine schedule as being enforced in Texas:

  • Hepatitis A vaccine — Students entering Kindergarten must have two doses.
  • Measles, mumps, rubella vaccine — Students entering Kindergarten must have two doses. Students in grades 1-12 must continue to meet the state requirements, which is two doses of a measles-containing vaccine and one dose each of mumps and rubella vaccine.
  • Vericella vaccine — Students entering kindergarten and seventh grade must have had two doses. Students in grades 1-6 and 8-12 must continue to meet the state requirements.
  • Tetanus, diphtheria, acellular peryussis-containing vaccine — Students entering seventh grade must have one dose of Tdap vaccine. Students in seventh grade must have had a booster dose of Tdap, but only if it has been five years since their last dose of a tetanus vaccine. Students in grades 8-12 must have had a booster dose of Tdap if it has been 10 years since their last dose.
  •  Meningococcal vaccine — Students entering seventh grade must have one dose.