California School Immunization Laws

In California, children must have required immunizations before entering school or childcare. This is to prevent the spread of vaccine preventable diseases. By learning everything you can about the California School Immunization Law, you are helping to maintain high immunization rates for children in your care, preventing outbreaks of dangerous diseases in your childcare facility, and ultimately protecting children from vaccine preventable diseases.

These are the steps you must take in order to comply with the law:

1. Ask parents to present the child's immunization record before the child is enrolled. Keep a list of children who are not fully protected (including children with medical or personal belief exemptions against some or all vaccines) in order to quickly identify at risk children in the event of an outbreak and send them home if requested by the Public Health Department.

2. Copy immunization information onto the California School Immunization Record (blue card) to keep in child's file.

3. Assess the child's immunization status. If additional immunization(s) are needed, inform the child's parent or guardian that their child must get the shot(s) before he/she can be admitted.

4. Follow up with children who are currently up-to-date but will need additional future immunizations. This can be done in several ways:

• Use a calendar to keep track of all the children who need future immunizations. Write the name of the child who needs a shot on the day it is due. Make sure this calendar is in a place were you can easily see it as a reminder but it is not viewable/accessible to others since this information is confidential. Or...

• Use a 3 x 5 inch index card filing system with each month of the year separated into a different sections of the box. Write the name of each child who needs a follow-up immunization and the date it is due on the card and file away the card with the corresponding month. Or...

• Keep a separate file with the Blue Cards of children needing follow-up immunizations.

Whatever method you use, make sure to check your system on a monthly basis and remind parents at least two weeks before the vaccines are due that there children will be excluded if they don't get their needed immunizations.

For immunization schedule and further school law immunization information, please check Guide to the Requirements of the California School Immunization Law for Childcare Providers (English) or Guía Sobre Los Requisitos de la Ley de inmunización Escolar de California para los Provedores de Cuidado Infantil (Spanish). You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these pages.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Where do I get blue cards?

A. Blue cards may also be ordered, free of charge, directly from the Los Angeles County Immunization Program at (323) 869-8080.

Q. What if a parent can't find their child's immunization (shot) record?

A. Refer these parents to their doctor or clinic to get another copy. In situations where immunizations cannot be verified, children will need to start their immunizations over. Remind parents that the shot record is an important document. They will need to show the card to childcare and school personnel, as well as, for doctor visits.

Q. What type of documentation is accepted for chickenpox disease?

A. If a child has already had chickenpox disease, a doctor will need to note that the child has had the disease on the child's California Immunization Record. A letter on the doctor's letterhead stating that the child had the disease is also acceptable. You cannot accept a verbal or written statement from the parent.

Q. How do we document chickenpox disease on the blue card?

A. Write the words "had disease" in the varicella section of the blue card, specifically where the date of the shot would normally be written.

Q. How do I know what shots children should have at the time of their enrollment?

A. Immunization requirements by age can be viewed at  Guide to the Requirements of the California School Immunization Law for Childcare Providers (English) or Guía Sobre Los Requisitos de la Ley de inmunización Escolar de California para los Proveedores de Cuidado Infantil (Spanish). You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these pages.

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