The Ministry of Health Has Made a New Decision: School Vaccinations Will Now Be Administered by Family Physicians. According to the recent decision by the Ministry of Health, changes have been made to the national vaccination schedule. First-grade and eighth-grade school vaccinations will now be performed in Family Health Centers by family physicians. The implementation of this new vaccination arrangement will begin on July 1, 2020. Following recommendations from the Immunization Advisory Committee, the vaccination schedule for primary school first grade and eighth grade was revised on June 3, 2020, and it was decided that these vaccinations will be carried out in Family Health Centers.
The Decision Takes Effect on July 1, 2020
The decision will be applied starting July 1, 2020. In line with the Ministry of Health and Immunization Advisory Committee recommendations, vaccinations administered by family physicians will commence on that date. Under this arrangement, first graders will receive the second dose of MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) and the booster dose of DTaP-IPV (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, inactivated polio) at their family health unit, and eighth graders will receive the Td (tetanus, diphtheria) booster dose.
According to the Ministry of Health and the Immunization Advisory Committee recommendations, MMR and DTaP-IPV vaccines previously given at schools to first-grade primary students will be administered by family physicians for all children born on or after July 1, 2016, who have reached 48 months of age.
In line with the same recommendations, the Td vaccine previously administered at schools to eighth-grade students will be provided by family physicians to all children born on or after July 1, 2007, who have reached 156 months (13 years) of age.
Children born before July 1, 2016, who have not yet started primary school will still receive the second dose of MMR and the DTaP-IPV vaccine at schools during the 2020–2021, 2021–2022, and 2022–2023 academic years.