Best Vaccines to Get Before the School Year

Before a child starts kindergarten, seventh grade or a new Florida school, the school needs a Florida Certification of Immunization (form DH 680) showing the required vaccines. The short answer: kindergartners need DTaP, polio, MMR, hepatitis B and varicella doses; seventh graders add Tdap; preschool and child care add Hib and, for child care, pneumococcal vaccine. Other vaccines, such as flu, HPV and meningococcal, are on the CDC schedule but are not Florida school-entry requirements. Your child's pediatrician is the right person to confirm exactly which doses your child still needs.

Important: Florida is in the middle of a rule change on school vaccines. The requirements below are the ones in effect as of September 23, 2026. See the status section below, and check with your child's school and the Florida Department of Health in Polk County before relying on any list, including this one.

Vaccines Florida requires for school

These come from the Florida Department of Health's immunization guidelines for schools and child care, which implement Rule 64D-3.046 and section 1003.22 of the Florida Statutes.

1. DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis)

Required for grades K-12: four or five doses. The Florida DOH guidelines say the fifth dose should be given on or after the child's fourth birthday and before kindergarten entry. Pertussis is whooping cough.

2. Polio (IPV)

Required for grades K-12: three, four or five doses, depending on the child's age and when earlier doses were given. Your pediatrician can tell you whether your child's series is complete.

3. MMR (measles, mumps and rubella)

Required for grades K-12: two doses. Measles, mumps and rubella are among the diseases named directly in Florida law, not only in the Department of Health rule.

4. Tdap for seventh grade

Students entering, attending or transferring into seventh grade need one dose of Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis) in addition to all other school vaccines.

5. Hepatitis B

Currently required for grades K-12 (two or three doses) and pre-K. This is one of the four vaccines the Department of Health has proposed removing from school requirements (see status below). As of September 23, 2026, the requirement still appears in the rule.

6. Varicella (chickenpox)

Currently required: two doses. The Florida DOH guidelines phased in the two-dose requirement one grade at a time, starting with kindergarten in the 2008/2009 school year, so it now reaches every grade from K through 12. Ask your pediatrician whether a documented history of chickenpox changes what your child needs. Varicella is also on the proposed removal list.

7. Hib and pneumococcal vaccine for preschool and child care

Public and private pre-K programs require age-appropriate doses of Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b) along with DTaP, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B and varicella. Licensed child care facilities and family day care homes also require pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for children 2 to 59 months old. Hib and pneumococcal vaccines are also on the proposed removal list.

Recommended, but not Florida school requirements

8. Flu, HPV and meningococcal vaccines

The CDC's child and adolescent schedule lists a yearly flu vaccine, HPV vaccine starting at 11-12 years, and MenACWY (meningococcal) vaccine at 11-12 with a booster at 16. None of these is required for Florida K-12 school entry, and your doctor may suggest giving them at the same visit as the seventh-grade Tdap. Federal vaccine recommendations have been in flux: as of September 2026, the CDC's schedule page says its July 2, 2025 schedule is the current one because of a March 2026 federal court order. The American Academy of Pediatrics publishes its own 2026 schedule, which it says differs from recent CDC guidance. Ask your child's doctor which schedule they follow and why.

Status of Florida's school vaccine rules (as of September 23, 2026)

In September 2025, the Department of Health published a notice of rule development to update Rule 64D-3.046, its school and child care immunization rule. Here is where that stands, based on the Florida Administrative Code and Florida Statutes:

• What a rule can change: The Department of Health published a proposed rule on August 24, 2026 that would remove hepatitis B, varicella, Hib and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines from school and child care requirements. As of September 23, 2026, the Florida Administrative Code still lists the rule's last effective version as April 2, 2013, meaning the proposed change had not yet taken effect. Unlike a change in law, a Department of Health rule change generally does not need a vote of the Legislature; it takes effect only after the Department adopts and files it.
• What needs the Legislature: Section 1003.22 of the Florida Statutes itself requires immunization against polio, diphtheria, measles (rubeola), rubella, pertussis, mumps and tetanus. Removing those would take a change in law. As of this writing, those statutory requirements have not changed.
• Exemptions: Florida law allows medical exemptions certified by a physician and religious exemptions requested in writing. The proposed rule would also change how religious exemptions work. Ask your county health department about current forms.

Requirements can change during the school year. Confirm with your child's school nurse or registrar and with the Florida Department of Health in Polk County before assuming a vaccine is or is not required. This page does not recommend skipping any vaccine; decisions about your child's vaccines belong in a conversation with your child's doctor.

The paperwork: form DH 680

Schools and child care programs need a completed DH 680 on file. The Florida DOH guidelines say health care providers enrolled in Florida SHOTS, the statewide immunization registry, can print an electronically certified DH 680. If your child is behind, the guidelines allow a child to be admitted after the first dose(s) with a temporary medical exemption (DH 680 Part B) and a schedule for the remaining doses. Ask for the form at the same visit your child gets vaccinated.

Where Davenport-area families can get school vaccines

• Your child's pediatrician or family doctor, who has the vaccine history and can issue the DH 680.
• Florida Department of Health in Polk County: immunizations are offered at clinics including Haines City, Auburndale, Bartow and Lakeland. Call 863-519-7910 to schedule, and bring a picture ID and all previous immunization records.
• Osceola County families (parts of Four Corners and ChampionsGate) can contact the Florida Department of Health in Osceola County.
• Pharmacies may vaccinate older children and teens; call first to ask about age limits and which vaccines they carry.

Elon Health Urgent Care does not provide vaccines. We can help with the rest of back-to-school: school physicals, sports physicals, and walk-in pediatric care 7 days a week when a child gets sick. For clinic options, see our list of urgent care for kids in Davenport.

If your child is sick, call 911 or go to the ER for trouble breathing, a seizure, a stiff neck with fever, unusual drowsiness or confusion, or a baby younger than 3 months with a fever of 100.4F (38C) or higher. This page is general information, not a substitute for a visit.