The COVID-19 vaccine has drawn more attention as this school year begins, but doctors say parents need to remember required vaccinations as well.
Texas requires vaccinations, with exemptions for medical reasons or religious beliefs, for diseases like polio, hepatitis and measles, mumps and rubella. A complete list is available HERE.
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Kids 12 and older can get the COVID-19 vaccine at the same time as the others.
"There's not a waiting period. You can get your COVID vaccine the same day you get other vaccines," says Dr. Erin Wallace, a pediatrician at USMD Mansfield.
Wallace says kids going into kindergarten and into 7th grade have the most vaccinations due. She urges parents to have all kids get flu shots each year.
Wallace says she has been hearing more questions from parents over the summer as kids get ready to return to school in person.
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"I have had a couple parents who've said, 'He's almost 12! Can we get him in?'" she says. "Right now, because it's approved through emergency use, they're not going to make any exceptions."
Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci said he is hopeful the FDA will give full approval to at least one vaccine, produced by Pfizer, by the end of August.
In the meantime, Wallace says parents should support their kids' mental health. She says kids get nervous before any school year, but this year may have added worries because they have spent so much time away from the classroom or are returning to find some restrictions still in place.
"Kids feed off parents and other people's nervousness, so I've been really encouraging my parents to say, 'This is normal. Kids are going back to school. It's going to be a good school year. We're going to be really positive about it,'" she says.
Wallace says schools have also continued increased cleaning and are taking actions permitted to make sure children are safe.
"A kindergarten classroom is going to be different than a fifth grade classroom versus a 12th grade classroom as far as the challenges they may see," she says. "But I think, overall, it's going to be a really good school year for everybody."
In turn, Wallace says a safer classroom will help kids develop academically, socially and emotionally.
"They learn so much more than just the ABCs and 123s," she says. "Kids are going to get back to their job, which is being in their seat, in school, learning. Really, from a parent's standpoint, I'd tell parents not to be nervous."
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