COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina's top health agency is encouraging parents to get their children vaccinated ahead of the upcoming school year.
In a few weeks South Carolina students will return to school and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) wants parents to be sure vaccines are on their child's back-to-school list.
Students enrolled in school and child care are required to be current on certain vaccinations at the start of each school year. The agency says this helps protect the health of children and teachers as vaccines are one of the most successful ways for reducing disease spread.
There have been some updates for this school year's vaccine requirements. These include:
- 2nd graders are now required to have two doses of hepatitis A vaccine with both doses received on or after the first birthday and separated by at least 6 months.
- 8th graders are now required to have two doses of varicella (chickenpox) vaccine. A child with a positive history of the disease is considered immune and is exempt from this requirement.
- 10th graders are now required to have three doses of oral and/or inactivated polio vaccine with at least one dose received on or after the fourth birthday.
- None of these are new vaccines, but rather the existing requirement has been extended to additional grade levels.
You can click here for a full list of vaccination requirements for the 2022-2023 school year.
DHEC says appointments fill up quickly in August, so now is the time to schedule a visit to make sure our child is up to date on required and recommended vaccinations.