Immunization form incomplete - ack!

You can get another vaccine. I did this when I started a new job (I was in my 30’s) and needed proof of either vaccination or antibodies. They said I can get vaccinated again, which I did.

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They will work with you (99.99% sure, anyway). They would have required proof prior to now if they were really going to kick you out. As long as you are actively working with them to get it resolved as quickly as possible, you should be fine.

If you haven’t had an MMR or DPT since you were a kid, you really should do that, anyway. The immunity isn’t necessarily a forever thing.

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Ok but enquiring minds want to know what you will be studying!! (Unless that would blow your confidentiality)

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Oh yes, you’ll be fine, don’t panic! I had a similar situation but already had evidence of a titer that I supplied, which satisfied the requirement. If I hadn’t had the titer and it was urgent, I would have just popped into CVS for a new shot. Congrats and good luck in your new program – how exciting!

Old pedi. Old high school. Old college. Your state vaccines for children program, since even in 2003 they were supplying the mmr, and getting and keeping records of every child who was registered with them.

Huge congratulations to you for going back to college!!! I know you will teach the youngsters a thing or two… :wink:

So the OP sounds like she is in her mid-50s? (using 30 year MBA reunion as a barometer). This made we wonder, what shots did we get as kids? I would have zero ability even to know where my vaccination records would be from 1967 onward!

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Smallpox (no longer given), polio, mumps, measles, pertussis. Mumps & measles vaccines came after I had the mumps & measles - but the vaccines were still given.

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Something to note is that some measles vaccines given between 1963 and 1967 were of a less effective type, so those who had measles vaccination during that time period may want to get a measles or MMR booster anyway.

Also, some research suggests that mumps immunity tends to fade so that it may not be lifetime, so a mumps or MMR booster may be worth considering for middle aged adults.

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I had to get a repeat MMR as soon as my S was born. They tested my immunity when I was pregnant, and it was not up to snuff (I was immunized in the group cited). When GD was born, her pediatrician said that H & I needed to get DPT boosters.

My doc had me do the same with repeating MMR and the DPT booster after our son was born. I also seem to recall they had me do something before we even started trying but I can’t recall which vaccine that was.

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Tdap (for adults, tetanus, diptheria, acellular pertussis) is commonly recommended every 10 years for adults. However, some places default to offering Td vaccines (no pertussis vaccination), so you may have to ask specifically for Tdap (with pertussis vaccination).

my daughter arrived at summer orientation and didn’t have the records. So she went to the orientation and I got on the phone with the department of health. When we’d moved to Florida 2.5 years earlier I was required to go to the dept of health to get a special form filled out even though I had their records. Then the Fl health dept questioned the type of vaccines she’d had because they were given in the NICU and no one put down DTaP or just DTP or whatever. I think we split the difference and they gave her one new shot and let the other go (she was 15). Then they started on her sister, who was adopted… They didn’t like that her chickenpox shots were given at 2.5 and 4.5 and not at 1 and 5. Well, I didn’t HAVE her at 1, and she went to K at 4.5 and they required a second shot for K (and I think she had the chickenpox before she came to me). Geez.

Anyway, they found her vaccination record attached to her hs transcripts. Who knew?

And the Fl dept of health would no longer talk to me because daughter had turned 18.

You might also check with the dept of health in the state you were vaccinated in. Although my kids’ records weren’t entered when they were vaccinated, as some time after they were born the state law required it and I know their pediatrician’s office did a project where they entered them all (some time in the 2000’s). Now I can get their records (well, they can but not me) from Colorado or Florida.

What those won’t include are those of us who had chickenpox, mumps, measles.

Good luck. I fear you have a sore arm in your future.

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I have mine! My mother wasn’t particularly organized about most things…but she was about this. Plus, every time I switched doctors after age 18, I made sure my immunization records were sent to the new doctor.

I also have a yellow card that has all my recent immunizations recorded on it.

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We did have Tdap - just looked to confirm.

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I had the original measles and mumps shots in the mid 60’s and had to have MMRs when a titer showed no measles antibodies at some point in the 90’s (required for a job). I believe MMR came out in the early 1970s so if vaccinated prior to that no MMR and probably a good idea to get them now. If you were born 1957 or earlier they assume you had measles and no vaccination necessary. And yes to TdaP! Pertussis - at least prior to Covid - was definitely out there and can be very serious in infants (and nasty for adults as well).

Something else about measles if you actually get infected is that it can reduce or erase other immunity from previous vaccines or infections. So it may be necessary after measles infection to redo previous vaccines.

I wonder if your vaccine record was attached to the transcripts from your previous college. If so they already have the records. Could explain why they haven’t contacted you about missing records.

Holy HIPAA violations on health records attached to transcripts. Yikes.

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Not uncommon.

My daughter had exactly such a last minute crises with her grad school, suddenly requiring TBC tests, vaccinations and drug testing. And for someone who is very consciously hydrating throughout the day, a quick (first-ever) drug-test appointment will lead to: “diluted” results.

There was a lot of at-home drama about consequences, thoughts of admission possibly being rescinded, fueled by somewhat “terse” administrative responses to the need to retest…

Bottom line, once it got past low-level administrative staff, the response by the program was completely “chill” - and once she finally met her cohorts, it turned out that quite a few people had gone through one or the other version of the same.

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