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Immunization Requirements

Updated 2024 child care and 2024–2025 school year immunization requirements

Wisconsin has updated its immunization requirements for child care and school entry. These changes will go into effect for child care centers immediately, however the first child care assessment using this criteria will be done in spring 2025. The changes will go into effect for school-age children at the start of the 2024-2025 school year.

These updates will help Wisconsin students, educators, and staff stay safer, healthier, and in school by bringing Wisconsin closer to the current nationwide vaccine recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), a group of medical and public health experts who develop recommendations on the use of vaccines in the United States. When children are healthy and can stay in school, they have more opportunity to thrive.

Overview of updates

Changes to Wisconsin’s child care and school-required immunizations will improve protection for children across the state by protecting them against vaccine-preventable illnesses, including meningitis and chickenpox.

Read the full text of changes and the School and Child Care Center Immunization Requirements, P-03370 (PDF) provides a summary of the changes.

Changes include:

  • Adding meningococcal (MenACWY-containing) vaccine to the requirements for students entering seventh grade, and a booster dose for eligible students entering 12th grade.
  • Parent report of chickenpox disease is no longer acceptable for exemption from the varicella (chickenpox) vaccine requirement. Children must have a diagnosis of chickenpox from a qualified health care provider (M.D., D.O., N.P., or P.A.) to be exempt from this requirement, however existing exemption options still apply.
  • Updating the definitions of “substantial outbreak” for both child care centers and schools by revising to align with CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) definitions and to add chickenpox and meningococcal disease to the definitions.

What has not changed?

  • The updated requirements leave in place the already established list of required vaccinations.
  • In addition, the existing exemption options for medical, religious, or personal conviction reasons are still available.
  • There is no requirement for seasonal flu vaccination or COVID-19 vaccination. These remain strongly recommended by leading health experts, including the Department of Health Services (DHS), CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Academy of Family Physicians, and others.
  • Changes implemented in 2023, including:
    • Changing the grade at which the Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis vaccine) is required to the start of seventh grade. Previously this vaccine was required at the start of sixth grade. This change is to better align with the recommended age (age 11) at which children should receive the vaccine.
    • Requiring schools to provide reports of vaccine compliance and disease outbreaks to DHS in addition to the previously existing requirement to report to local health departments.

When will the new rules go into effect?

Requirements for child care centers are effective immediately, the first child care assessment using this criteria will be in spring 2025. Requirements for school-age children will go into effect at the beginning of the 2024–2025 school year.

Resources

For more information on routine childhood vaccines:

Learn about vaccine safety:

A child lying on the floor reading a book with his feet up on a bookcase

Wisconsin immunization law requirements

Before vaccines, many children died from diseases that are now rare in the United States. Vaccines are our best protection against serious, sometimes deadly, diseases. To protect our children, Wisconsin law requires all students to do one of the following:

  • Show proof they got required vaccines.
  • Provide a waiver signed by a parent or guardian.

All schools, childcare centers, and other public health agencies must follow vaccine laws. We work together with these groups to protect the health of our children.

School law requirements

The annual school immunization webinar is in two parts. Watch Part 1 and Part 2.

Forms for the 2024-2025 school year have been updated and can be found below.

DHS offers details on immunization laws:

School administrators may use these tools from DHS to track vaccine requirements:

You can collect parental or guardian consent to vaccinate their child at school using the Authorization to Receive Tdap, MCV4, HPV, and/or Influenza Vaccines, F-00048.

Search for your school’s Local Education Agency (LEA) code and school code. You can search by district, public school, or private school:

Child care requirements

The Wisconsin Child Care Immunization Assessment, P-44329 (PDF) (2024 assessment) booklet has all the details child care centers need to complete the annual assessment. The latest version of the Child Care Assessment booklet is published in the spring. The assessment is due at the end of spring each year. The specific deadline and website information to submit the assessment is included in the Child Care Assessment booklet.

According to state law, child care centers should require all parents to keep their immunization records up to date. Use this form to meet the requirement: Child Care Immunization Record, F-44192 (last updated 2020).

Here are the latest results, made available after the close of each school year: Child Care Immunization Assessment Results, Wisconsin, P-01445 (PDF).

This document helps parents understand vaccines needed for their child to attend a child care center: Child Care Immunization Assessment, P-02047 (PDF). (last updated 2023)

Give parents the Child Care Immunization Record, F-44192 (last updated 2020) so they can keep their immunization records up to date. Parents can access their child’s immunization record from the child’s doctor or through the Wisconsin Immunization Registry (WIR).

The Wisconsin Immunization Program, Immunization Action Coalition, and Vaccinate Your Family have resources to answer parent and guardian questions about vaccines.

What is the purpose of the law?

Immunizations protect children from diseases like measles, chickenpox, or whooping cough.

If a child becomes sick, they will need to stay at home. This may mean missed income for you and missed work for parents. Some children may need to be hospitalized. By staying up to date on immunizations, children will reduce the chances of getting sick with a preventable disease.

The purpose of this report is to make sure children are getting the immunizations they need to stay healthy. This report helps health departments understand the health of children in your county and the state.

How can I prepare for completing the immunization assessment?

A child’s immunization record may change quickly over time. Therefore, it is important to review each child’s record regularly and ask parents/guardians for any missing information. You can review immunization records throughout the year to ensure children stay up to date.

Parents can find their child’s immunization record from their child’s doctor or through the Wisconsin Immunization Registry

You can ask parents to complete the Child Care Immunization Record, F-44192 (last updated 2020) for each child. The form includes all the information that you will need to complete the assessment.

What if a parent refuses to vaccinate a child?

In Wisconsin, if a parent refuses to vaccinate their child, they may seek either a religious waiver or a personal conviction waiver. For the purposes of the Immunization Assessment, you will need to collect the number of religious waivers and the number of personal conviction waivers.

What if a child cannot receive a vaccine because they have a medical condition?

Rarely, a child may be unable to receive a vaccine because of certain medical conditions. In this case, they will need a health waiver. These health waivers will also need to be counted for the Immunization Assessment.

What immunizations are required for children in child care?

The number and type of immunizations that a child receives is based on their age. Current requirements can be found in the Child Care Immunization Record, F-44192 (last updated 2020).

Why do some children have more vaccines?

Some children will have more vaccines than the state law requires. This is because the state law includes the minimum number of vaccines children need to be in child care. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and most doctors recommend additional vaccines for a child to be considered fully protected.

What will happen with the results of the immunization assessment?

The Immunization Assessment results are shared with both your local health department and the state Immunization Program. From there the data will be shared in two ways:

  • Individual child care center results will be shared with local health department health officers and staff.
  • Child care center results will be totaled for the whole state and then shared on the state Immunization Program website.

How is the assessment submitted?

A specific assessment due date and website information will be provided with the email of the Immunization Assessment. Once you submit the Immunization Assessment, the results will automatically be sent to both the state and local health departments. If you are unable to access the internet to submit the assessment, please call 608-267-9959 when the assessment is due.

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Last revised September 17, 2024