Our Vaccination Policy
We firmly
believe in the effectiveness of vaccines for preventing serious and potentially deadly illness.
Vaccines save lives.
Vaccinating children may be the single most important thing you as a parent can do to protect your child's health.
In order to be a patient of our practice, we require
that all children receive the set of vaccinations required for school entry in Maryland Public Schools, as listed below.
Required by Maryland Public Schools prior to kindergarten (this set of shots is often called the primary series):
- Hepatitis B
- Tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (DTaP or DTP)
- Polio
- H. influenza B (HiB - not the same as the flu shot)
- Pneumococcal (Prevnar)
- Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR)
- Varicella
Required by Maryland Public Schools prior to 7th grade:
- Tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap)
- Meningococcal
We also believe that all children and adults should receive the recommended vaccines according to the schedule published by the American Academy of Pediatrics. However, we do allow some flexibility in spacing out vaccines if that helps parents feel more comfortable—as long as it doesn’t compromise a child’s protection.
*We require
that all patients begin their vaccine series by 6 months of age and, be fully caught up on their primary series by 18 months.*
After the primary series, the next set of vaccines is at age 4.
Helpful Links:
