Purpose: To establish minimum requirements for attendance in NJ schools that protect each individual child and promote herd immunity.
Applicability: Children six months through 59 months of age attending any licensed child-care center or preschool facility, on or after September 1, 2008, shall annually receive at least one dose of influenza vaccine between September 1 and December 31 of each year.
Why Require Flu Vaccine? Influenza continues to be a significant cause of vaccine-preventable death in children. School-aged children are the age group most likely to contract and spread influenza. Children play a significant role in transmitting influenza to family members and classmates.
The State plans to enforce the December 31, 2010 deadline by excluding all unvaccinated children from daycare/preschool until the end of the flu season March 31, 2011.
For more information, please contact the Englewood Health Department - Public Health Nurse at 201-568-3450 Option 4.
Resources
Montana, B. (2009, July 13). Vaccine-Preventable Diseases: Evidence and Strategies to Protect Our Communities. PowerPoint lecture presented in the Conference Center, University Hall, 7th floor on the Montclair State University campus.