Immunization Program

Parents - Not Sure Which Immunizations Are Needed?

Find out which vaccines the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends:

For Infants and Children (Birth through 6 years) | Para ninos, desde el nacimiento hasta los 6 anos de edad

For Preteens and Teens (7-18 years) | Para los ninos de los 7 anos hasta los 18 anos de edad

For Adults | Vacunas para adultos

There are also specific recommendations for travelers, college students, health care workers, or other groups of people.

Visit the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) for more information on childhood vaccines.

Where to Get Vaccinated

The best place to get immunizations is at your doctor's office or regular clinic. View this list of Where to Get Vaccinated in Marin County (English) and (Espanol) or use the Vaccine Finder.

Watch our video to learn how vaccines protect ourselves, our families, and our community.

Vaccines have literally transformed the landscape of medicine over the course of the 20th century. Before vaccines:

• Polio crippled an average of more than 35,000 people in the U.S. each year.
• Measles infected almost all children by the age of 15 years, and each year approximately 400 to 500 people died, 48,000 people were hospitalized, and 4,000 suffered swelling of the brain in the U.S.
• Pertussis (whooping cough) killed an estimated 8,000 people in the U.S. each year.

View stories of people who have been impacted by vaccine-preventable diseases at shotbyshot.org.

Child Care Facility and School Immunization Requirements

Under the California School Immunization Law (California Health and Safety Code, Sections 120325-120375), children are required to receive certain immunizations in order to attend public and private elementary and secondary schools, child care centers, family day care homes, nursery schools, day nurseries and developmental centers. This law also requires schools, child care centers, and family child care homes to enforce immunization requirements, maintain immunization records of all children enrolled, and submit reports to the local health department.

Schools with low vaccination rates are at increased risk for outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. Parents, how well-vaccinated is your child's child care? Kindergarten? 7th Grade?

Visit ShotsForSchool.org for information on the required immunizations for Child Care/Preschool and School.

Schools/ChildCares, need more "Blue Cards" (California School Immunization Records)? Please call 415-473-3078 or email dhiser@marincounty.org

Child Care Staff & Volunteers - Required Immunizations

A law effective in 2016, SB 792, requires certain immunizations for child care employees and volunteers. More information is available at ShotsForSchool.org

Tools for Schools and Child Care Facilities

• ShotsForSchool.org
• Immunization Handbook, Records, and Materials
• Personal Belief Exemptions: SB277
• Medical Exemptions
• Conditional Admission
• Conditional Entry Tool for TK/K-12 (SF Dept of Public Health)
• Annual Fall Immunization Assessment Report For Child Care, TK/K, and 7th Grade: Login and Instructions
• Sample Flu Vaccination Declination Form

Sample Letters for School Use

• Notice of Immunizations Needed (Spanish)
• Sample Letter from Schools to Parents about SB277 (Spanish)
• Sample Letter to Parents about Medical Exemption Requirements (Eng/Sp)
• Sample Letter to Parents-Students Entering 7th Grade Missing Tdap
• Sample Letter to Parents-Students Entering 7th Grade with Existing PBE

Tools for Health Care Providers

Required Immunizations for School and Child Care

Licensed physicians may grant a medical exemption (ME) by providing a letter with required documentation to a child's parent or guardian. Students who are immune to a disease by history of disease or titer and therefore do not need to be vaccinated should have a medical exemption.

• Sample Form for Medical Exemptions to Required Immunizations

• California Medical Association SB277 FAQ

Immunization Resources

• Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program - no cost vaccines for eligible children
• California Immunization Registry (CAIR2)
• California Department of Public Health, Immunization Branch
• Immunization Action Coalition

Please report vaccine-related adverse events to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), and vaccine errors to the National Vaccine Errors Reporting Program (VERP).

Please report incidences and outbreaks of communicable diseases to the Marin County Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Unit.

Tools for Translating Foreign Vaccine Records

• Binational Immunization Resource Tool (US/Mexico)
• Foreign Language Terms (CDC Pink Book, Appendix B)
• Quick Chart of Vaccine-Preventable Disease Terms in Multiple Languages (Eastern European and Western European Languages)
• International Immunization Schedules (World Health Organization)