Colorado law (Board of Health rule 6 CCR 1009-2) requires all students attending Colorado schools and licensed child cares to be vaccinated against certain diseases, unless an exemption is filed. The minimum number and spacing of doses is set forth in the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedules. Meeting the initial vaccine requirements does not excuse a student from meeting additional requirements. In addition to the vaccines required for school entry, there are several vaccines recommended by the ACIP that provide protection against other diseases. These include Meningococcal, Hepatitis A, Rotavirus, Human papillomavirus and Influenza.
Below are the vaccines required for students attending Colorado licensed child cares and schools.
- More information is available here: Child Care | School.
Vaccines required to enter child care
- Hepatitis B (HepB).
- Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTaP).
- Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib).
- Inactivated poliovirus (IPV).
- Pneumococcal conjugate (PCV).
- Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR).
- Varicella (chickenpox).
Vaccines required to enter school (K-12)
- Hepatitis B (HepB).
- Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTaP).*
- Inactivated poliovirus (IPV).*
- Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR).*
- Varicella (chickenpox).*
- Tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (Tdap).**
*Students 4 through 6 years of age are required to have their final doses of DTaP, IPV, MMR and Varicella prior to kindergarten entry.
**Students are required to have Tdap prior to entry into 6th grade. One dose of Tdap is required for 6th through 12th grades.
College/university students
Students who are physically attending college or university classes must provide proof of immunity to measles, mumps, and rubella diseases.
This requirement does not apply to students taking college or university classes which are: offered off-campus; offered to nontraditional adult students as defined by the governing board of the institution; offered at colleges or universities which do not have residence hall facilities, or through a school whose normal course of student instruction is delivered online only.
New college and university students living in student housing must have documentation of a meningococcal ACWY vaccine within the last five years, or they must review and sign the meningococcal disease information and vaccine waiver (page 2).