School vaccinations

Georgia law requires children attending daycare or school to be protected from certain vaccine-preventable diseases. The DeKalb County Board of Health offers vaccines to protect children and prepare them for school at clinics throughout the county.

Georgia law states that parents who move to Georgia from another state and enroll their child in a Georgia school for the first time must provide the child’s daycare center or school with a Certificate of Immunization (Form # 3231) within 30 days of enrollment. This certificate verifies that the child has received the immunizations recommended for his/her age.

Parents can obtain this certificate from the child’s private physician or the DeKalb County Board of Health. Parents should bring a complete record of the child’s immunizations in order to complete the certificate.

Immunizations are offered on a walk-in basis Monday through Friday from 8:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. at most Public Health Centers. Click here for health center locations

DeKalb County Board of Health is a VFC (vaccine for children) provider which allows us to provide vaccines to (Medicaid and PeachCare) no health insurance or health insurance that does not cover vaccines. Clients who have health insurance that covers immunizations are not covered und VFC and are encouraged to receive their vaccines at their primary care provider’s office, which can bill the insurance carrier for the immunizations. Clients who have health insurance that covers vaccines and choose to receive immunizations at one of our Health Centers will be charged the full fee.

For more details, call the DeKalb County Board of Health immunization information line at (404) 294-3762 or call your local health center.


More information from the CDC:

School Starts Soon—Is Your Child Fully Vaccinated?

As you help your kids get ready for school, make sure they’re fully vaccinated. Web tools from CDC can help parents and doctors keep children up-to-date with the vaccines they need and protected from serious diseases.

Whooping Cough (Pertussis) Outbreaks

Currently, several states are reporting an increase in whooping cough cases. Your state may require children entering school to be vaccinated against certain diseases, such as pertussis. If you’re unsure of your state’s school requirements, check with your child’s doctor, your child’s school, or your health department.

Making sure that children of all ages receive all their vaccinations on time is one of the most important things parents can do to ensure their children’s long-term health ― as well as the health of friends, classmates, and others in the community.

It’s true that some vaccine-preventable diseases have become very rare thanks to vaccines. However, outbreaks still happen. One vaccine-preventable disease on the rise in pertussis (whooping cough). Unfortunately, whooping cough disease can be very serious and has led to serious illness and death, especially in babies and young children.  But whooping cough is preventable through immunization.

Making sure children stay up-to-date with vaccinations is the best way to make sure the country does not see other outbreaks, with more unnecessary illnesses and deaths.

Children Birth-6 years

During the early years of life, children are recommended to get vaccines to protect them from 14 diseases that can be serious, even life-threatening. Parents who choose not to vaccinate their own children increase the risk of disease not only for their children but also for their classmates and neighbors as well as children and adults throughout the entire community—including vulnerable newborns too young to have received the maximum protection from the recommended doses of vaccines.

Kids in pre-school and elementary school need flu vaccines to help keep them healthy. In fact, all children 6 months and over need flu vaccines. Getting all of your children vaccinated can help protect infants under 6 months old, too. Ask your children’s doctor or nurse about getting flu shots or the nasal spray to protect them against flu.

Children and Teens 7-18 years

It’s easy to forget that older children need vaccines, too. Of course, everyone is recommended to receive a yearly flu vaccination, and older children are no exception! It’s important to know that flu can be serious, even for healthy young people. So older kids should be getting at least one vaccine every year.

As children move into adolescence, they are at greater risk of catching diseases like meningitis and HPV. Vaccines to prevent these diseases are specifically recommended for children to receive at ages 11 and 12. If kids don’t get these vaccines on time, they should get caught up as soon as possible.

For other diseases, like whooping cough, the protection from vaccine doses received in childhood wears off over time. That’s why 11- and 12-year-olds are also recommended to get the booster shot called Tdap. Teens—and adults, too—who have not gotten Tdap should get this booster as soon as possible.  Tdap is a version of the DTaP vaccine given to infants and young children.

CDC provides a full immunization schedule for people ages 7 through 18 years for parents and doctors to protect children and teens from a vaccine-preventable disease.

More Information