POLICY: Immunizations shall be current for age upon admission and audited on an on-going basis as needed for each child. An annual audit of all children’s immunization records will be done and submitted to the California Department of Public Health as required for Child Care Centers by state law.
PURPOSE: To ensure that child’s immunization is up to date.
To promote and follow state immunization laws.
To educate the parents on the benefit of immunization.
PROCEDURE:
Follow Child Care and Preschool Staff instructions found on the Shots for School website: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Immunization/School/childcare-tools.aspx. QR code available on next page.
How to Implement Immunization Requirements:
- Notify parents of required immunizations and collect immunization records. See Parents' Guide to Immunizations Required for Pre-Kindergarten (Child Care) (also in Spanish).
- Complete the blue California Pre-Kindergarten and School Immunization Record (CSIR/Blue Card/CDPH286), or equivalent record, by transferring vaccine dates from the child's personal immunization record. Blue Cards are available free from local health departments.
- Determine if requirements are met by comparing the dates on the Blue Card to the Guide to Immunization Requirements for Pre-Kindergarten (Child Care) | Chinese
- You may also find the windows for immunization(PDF) (also in Spanish and Chinese) tool helpful.
- If requirements are not met, the child should not be enrolled until the required vaccines are obtained, or catch-up schedule has been initiated, per state law. You may refer parents to their doctor with a Letter to Parents: Immunizations Needed | Spanish | Arabic | Farsi | Vietnamese | Chinese from CDPH, or you may use a CCHP template available in section C-2.
- Families can usually request a “vaccine only” appointment with a registered nurse if they do not otherwise need to see the doctor for a physical exam. Vaccine only appointments are usually easy to obtain on short notice.
- Visit the SFDPH Schools and Childcare Immunization page for a list of clinics taking new patients and offering catch-up immunizations for children (scroll to the San Francisco Immunization Programs for Children section): Immunization Information for Schools and Child Care .
- Call 415-554-2955 for information about special immunization clinics for children and families who are having difficulty getting access to vaccines.
- If a child is too young to receive required immunizations, or has started a catch-up schedule, they may be admitted conditionally.
- Keep a completed Blue Card, or equivalent record, on file for every child enrolled.
- Every fall, submit Immunization Assessment Reports to the California Department of Public Health per state law. (Submission to the health department is not required for Family Child Care Homes).
- The Shots for Schools website has many resources and training videos on how to report immunization reports: resources and training (ca.gov)
- Report contagious diseases (PDF) to your local health department