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NY’s back-to-school vaccine requirements are airtight, at least for now
By
Caroline Lewis
Published Sep 7, 2026
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Joshua Lott/The Washington Post via Getty Images
By
Caroline Lewis
Published Sep 7, 2026
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New York City health and education officials are urging parents to double-check that their children are up to date on their vaccinations as schools return to session.
The vaccination campaign is launching not only as schools prepare to reopen but also as parents face an onslaught of shifting federal messaging on vaccines, which public health officials see as undermining longstanding guidance in New York and other states.
President Donald Trump recently issued an executive order endorsing a pared-down vaccine schedule for children. He also called on federal health officials to present a plan for breaking up the standard, combined vaccine protecting against measles, mumps and rubella. The president also called for the protection of parental rights and religious freedom regarding vaccines.
New York, however, isn't budging. The vaccine requirements for the 2026-2027 school year remain unchanged. Children are required to be up to date on shots protecting them against about a dozen vaccine-preventable diseases between Pre-K and 12th grade.
Still, the federal shifts around vaccine messaging, and attempts to change vaccine policy during Trump’s second term, have sowed confusion and made some parents more hesitant to get their children vaccinated, said Dr. Arturo Brito, president and CEO of the Children’s Health Fund, which operates mobile health clinics that offer vaccines in New York City and other parts of the country.
“Parents are now considering delaying vaccines or not getting them at all,” Brito said. That hesitancy, he added, largely affects infants and younger children who are not yet in school.
New York remains one of just a handful of states across the country that doesn’t allow religious exemptions to school vaccine requirements — a status that has kept vaccination rates high among kindergarteners here, even as they have dipped in other states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But that policy continues to face challenges in court.
Here’s what to know about New York’s back-to-school vaccine requirements, childhood vaccination rates and the future of religious exemptions.
What shots do children in New York need to attend school?
Students who attend school statewide, from Pre-K through grade 12, are required to get age-appropriate immunizations against diseases including measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, varicella, meningitis, and hepatitis B.
Children under age 5 enrolled in Pre-K or day care must be immunized against influenza and pneumococcal disease.
The state Department of Health and New York City’s Department of Education offer comprehensive guides to which shots are required for each grade.
What happens if my child is not up-to-date on their shots by the time school starts?
New York City public schools will notify parents if their child is missing any vaccine doses and tell parents how many days they have to get them. Children can be excluded from the classroom if they don’t get vaccinated by the deadline and must show proof of vaccination to return to school, according to the city’s Department of Education.
How high are NY’s childhood vaccination rates?
In the 2025-2026 school year, more than 97% of kindergarteners in New York state had their measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, shots, compared with just over 92% nationally, according to the latest data from the CDC.
Nationally, the share of kindergarteners who are up to date on those shots has declined in recent years as the number of kids taking advantage of non-medical exemptions to school vaccine requirements has increased, CDC data show.
However, that has not been an issue in New York. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo eliminated such non-medical exemptions in 2019 following a severe measles outbreak in the state.
The latest federal data suggests New York’s strong school vaccine requirements have helped protect the state from a downward trend in childhood vaccination that’s affecting other states.
What about kids who are not yet in school?
City data on vaccination rates among 2-year-olds show that some younger children who may not be in school yet lag in receiving their first dose of the MMR vaccine.
Only 89% of 2-year-olds in the five boroughs have received that first dose, with the rates varying by geography and ethnicity, according to city data. That’s down from 93% in 2024.
The CDC continues to recommend that children receive their first dose of the MMR vaccine between 12 and 15 months — a recommendation also endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which has become an additional guiding source for state policy.
How secure is NY’s policy on religious exemptions?
New York has so far prevailed in the face of legal challenges to its policy eliminating religious exemptions to school vaccine requirements — but the battle may not be over yet. Trump’s recent executive order directs the U.S. attorney general to help pursue legal challenges against states whose vaccine laws restrict religious freedom or parental rights.
Amish New Yorkers, who have received thousands of dollars in fines from the state health department for allowing unvaccinated children to attend school, have led the charge against the state’s vaccine requirements, arguing in court that the lack of religious exemptions violates their constitutional rights.
A federal appeals court in New York ruled against them in 2025, upholding the state’s policy.
The Supreme Court took up the case, Miller v. McDonald, last year, but declined to make its own ruling on the merits. Instead, the Supreme Court ordered the appeals court to reconsider its decision in light of a recent Supreme Court ruling on parental say over what’s taught in schools.
New York’s Second Circuit appeals court issued a similar decision the second time around.
One interpretation “ is that the Second Circuit is telling the Supreme Court to do the dirty work itself,” said Zalman Rothschild, an assistant professor at Cardozo School of Law, who has written about the case.
Rothschild said the constitutionality of vaccine mandates was long understood to be settled law, but the Supreme Court’s latest move has opened up fresh debate in other courts.
Meanwhile, New York’s Amish community is not giving up. The plaintiffs in Miller v. McDonald plan to file a new petition for the Supreme Court to hear their case later this month, according to Chris Freund, one of their attorneys.
Tagged
Health and Science
new york
public health
Caroline Lewis
Caroline Lewis is on the health care beat for WNYC and Gothamist. She has covered COVID, a nurses' strike, the overdose crisis and New York’s marijuana legalization effort, and spent a year investigating patients' medical bills. She always wants to hear about how everyday New Yorkers experience the health system. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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