Immunization Schedules / Recommendations

NM 'Done By One' Childhood Immunization Schedule

To address the challenge of improving New Mexico's low childhood immunization rates, the New Mexico Medical Society and the Department of Health have convened an expert panel of medical care providers, representatives of medical care organizations, and Department of Health and other state agency officials with knowledge and interest in immunization. The goal of the Clinical Prevention Initiative Childhood Immunization Workgroup (CPI-CI) is to raise childhood coverage rates by promoting best immunization practices among New Mexico's medical care providers.

One of the challenges of getting infants vaccinated at the right age is the complexity of the current childhood immunization schedule recommended by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (CDC/ACIP), and approved by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians. CPI-CI has developed a simpler schedule fully compatible with the CDC/ACIP recommendations. The New Mexico 'Done By One' optimized childhood immunization schedule has several advantages that we hope will encourage its acceptance by both providers and parents:

• It is much simpler: all the needed shots are given at 2, 4, 6, and 12 months!
• Kids become protected at the earliest possible age!
• The condensed schedule discourages the practice of deferring shots until next time, resulting in missed opportunities to vaccinate.
  

Evaluation of the DBO schedule done in 2008 indicates that children seen by practices that always use DBO are more likely to be fully immunized by 24 months than those seen by practices that never use DBO.

• Click here to download or view :

• The 2008 NM 'Done By One' Childhood (pdf)
• The 2008 CDC/ACIP Childhood Schedule (0-6 Years)(pdf)
• The 2008 CDC/ACIP Childhood/Adolescent Schedule (7-18 years) (pdf)
• The 2008 CDC/ACIP Catch-up Schedule (4 Months-18 Years)
• Tips on Using the 'Done By One' Schedule (pdf)
• The 'Done By One' Childhood Schedule: Is it Right for My Practice? (Powerpoint)

School and Daycare Immunization Requirements

New Mexico requires children entering daycare and school to have certain immunizations completed. Diseases are spread in social settings like daycares and schools so that requiring high levels of immunizations will prevent the spread of diseases. Generally, but not always, these requirements conform to the childhood immunization recommendations of CDC/ACIP.

Click here to download or view:

2008-09 NM School and Daycare Immunization Requirements (pdf)

Click here to learn more about exemptions to NM Daycare and School Immunization Requirements.

Adolescent Immunization Schedule

 

Click to download or view:

The 2008 CDC/ACIP Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule (7-18 years)(pdf)

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Select this link for a listing of Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Providers by County in New Mexico

College Requirements

Prospective college students are encouraged to consult their colleges about any immunization requirements.

Click below for immunization requirements information at:

 

Adults

Some adults incorrectly assume that the vaccines they received as children will protect them for the rest of their lives. Generally this is true, except that:

• Some adults were never vaccinated as children
• Newer vaccines were not available when some adults were children
• Immunity can begin to fade over time
• As we age, we become more susceptible to serious disease caused by common infections (e.g., flu, pneumococcus)

Vaccines recommended for adults are:

Tdap vaccine (boost every 5-10 years for life)

Influenza vaccine (age 50 and older and high risk, every year)

Pneumococcal vaccine (age 65 and older, once)

Hepatitis B vaccine (adults at risk)

Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine (childbearing women especially)

Varicella (chicken pox) vaccine

Zoster vaccine

Click here to download or view the

• CDC/ACIP Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule - English (pdf)

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Adult Hepatitis Immunization Recommendations

The Hepatitis Program, NMDOH, offers free hepatitis A and B immunization to the following high risk adults:

• Persons who are current injection drug users and their sexual contacts
  
• Men who have sex with men and their sexual contacts
  
• Persons living with hepatitis C
  
• Persons living with HIV/AIDS
  
• Persons living with chronic hepatitis B
  
• Persons from endemic areas
  
• Heterosexuals with more than one sex partner in the last six months
  
• Persons diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease
  
• Household and sexual contacts of people infected with hepatitis B
  
  

For more information, or to find out if you qualify for free immunization, please call your local health office, or the New Mexico Hepatitis Hotline, 1-800-545-2437.

Vaccine Recommendations During Pregnancy

Precautions must be taken when vaccinating during pregnancy. In general, live vaccines cannot be given because they may infect the fetus.

Click to download or view the
CDC Guide to Vaccination
of Pregnant Women

Exemptions

Parents have the right to refuse immunizations of their child for medical, religious, or philosophical reasons.

Medical exemptions are granted if a licensed physician attests that vaccination would seriously endanger the life or health of the child. A letter stating this must be signed by the child's physician on letterhead paper and the original filed with the school/daycare. A copy of any medical exemption on file at a school/daycare also needs to be sent to the NM Immunization Program.

Religious/ philosophical exemption forms (see below for download) must be filled out, officially notarized, and returned to the NM Immunization Program for approval and filing. Two copies of the approved exemption form will be returned to the parent or guardian - one that the parent/guardian need to present to the school/daycare, and the other to be kept by the parent/guardian. Religious/philosophical immunization exemption forms must be renewed at the beginning of every school year.

Click here to download the NM Immunization Exemption Form (pdf). Note: This scannable form must be printed at full size. When the Adobe Reader or Acrobat print screen opens, select 'None' in the Print scaling pull-down menu.

Completed exemption forms must be returned to the NM Immunization Program in person or by mail at:

Celina Lopez
Attn: Exemption form
NM Immunization Program
PO Box 26110
Santa Fe, NM 87502-6110

 

Vaccine Information Statements (VISs)

What is a Vaccine Information Statement?

A Vaccine Information Statement (VIS) is a one-page (two-sided) information sheet, produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), informing vaccine recipients or their parents or legal representatives of the benefits and risks of a vaccine. The law requires them to be given out whenever certain vaccinations are given.

Who must give out a VIS?

All providers of vaccines, both public and private sector.

Why must a VIS be used?

It is a requirement of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. Their purpose is to inform parents and people getting vaccinated themselves about the benefits and risks of vaccines.

When must a VIS be given out?

They must be given out at the time of each vaccination prior to administration of the vaccine.

See the CDC Vaccine Information Statement site for more information on VISs.

Vaccine Information Statement info by language and by disease

How to get a VIS?

ENGLISH

Influenza
DTaP
Polio
MMR
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis A
Hib
HPV
Varicella
Pneumococcal conj.
Pneumococcal poly.
Meningococcal

SPANISH

Influenza
DTaP
Polio
MMR
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis A
Hib
HPV
Varicella
Pneumococcal conj.
Pneumococcal poly.
Meningococcal

Click here to obtain VISs in additional languages, including: