Updated October 30 at 8:18 a.m.
BY REBECCA BENNETT — Nurses at 15 local middle schools, including Hyattsville Middle School, will offer vaccines to students as a Friday deadline approaches, according to the Washington Post. Immunization clinics will be held on Thursday, October 30, from 5 to 9 p.m. and Friday, October 31 from 4 to 5 p.m.
Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) says immunization requirements changed for the 2014-15 school year for students in kindergarten and 7th grade. According to the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH), students entering kindergarten are now required to have two doses of the Varicella (chicken pox) vaccine. Students entering 7th grade are now required to have one TDaP (Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis) vaccine and one Meningococcal (Meningitis) vaccine.
Several school districts, including Prince George’s County, already received an extension on the original deadline for showing proof of immunization. The original deadline was 20 days after the start of the school year. October 31 is the extended deadline.
Students According to DHMH, “By law, a public or private school principal or school administrator may not admit or retain a student in school without documentation of the new required vaccinations.” PGCPS stated that “non-compliant students will not be permitted to attend school.”
