Central Bucks Holding Immunization Clinic This Saturday

DOYLESTOWN, PA — The Central Bucks School District will be holding an immunization clinic this Saturday, Sept. 9, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at CB West. You should bring your child's vaccine record with you on the day of the clinic. Registration is required.

The clinic is being held in response to the revised immunization standards imposed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health effective this school year. Click here to register.

Effective for the 2017-18 school year, the provisional period — the window of time a parent has to ensure their child has been vaccinated — has been shortened from eight months to five days.

That means while parents previously had as long as eight months to make sure their students were up-to-date on shots, they must now be done within the first five days of school. If a student's shots are not completed within those first five days, the student must be excluded from school, according to the new rules.

If the student is in the middle of a series and it is too soon for the next dose, a parent must provide the school nurse with a plan for immunizations. That plan must be signed by a doctor and provided within the first five days of school, the rules state.

If the student has incomplete immunizations and no medical plan or approved exemption, the student must be excluded from school, under the new rules. Acceptable exemptions include medical reasons, religious beliefs or philosophical/strong moral or ethical conviction.

Click here for the vaccination schedule for students, as dictated by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.