Home » Health » Back to school 2020: vaccines and mandatory certificates

Back to school 2020: vaccines and mandatory certificates

What to do if your child does not comply with the mandatory (free) vaccinations to attend school? In times of Covid, will a medical certificate be required for readmission to class after absence due to illness? To orient yourself in the tangle of standards, technical documents and new rules, here are some indications with the help of experts. It should be remembered that vaccination obligations for minors up to 16 years (law n.119 / 2017) are the condition for being admitted to nurseries and nurseries, while for the other levels of education, from elementary onwards, sanions up to 500 euros in case of default, not the inability to attend.

When the certification must be presented

It is speculated that during the lockdown there was an overall drop of at least 30 percent in vaccinations, which is now trying to recover reports Paolo Becherucci, president of the Italian Society of Pediatric Primary Care (Sicupp). If you have not yet been contacted by the ASL, do not be afraid to book an appointment. If, however, the child in good standing with vaccinations, you should know that it is no longer mandatory to present the vaccination certificate, as the local health authorities are required to transmit the information contained in the vaccination records to the schools. It remains a conundrum for families, especially with the resurgence of Covid cases, if you need a medical certificate for returning to school after an illness, in some regions mandatory after 5 days of absence. For now, nationwide, for the little ones who attend nurseries and nurseries (0-6 years), as well as they recommend the guidelines for the resumption of activities in the presence of the educational services and preschools, approved by the State-Regions Unified Conference at the end of July and updated at the end of August: After absence due to illness of more than 3 days, readmission will be allowed upon presentation of the appropriate certification the pediatrician of free choice (or general practitioner) certifying the absence of infectious or diffusive diseases and the suitability for reintegration into the educational / school community.

In case of fever, cough or cold

And for other schoolchildren? What to do if your child has a fever, cough or cold? He pressed Rocco Russo, coordinator of the vaccination technical table of the Italian Society of Pediatrics (Sip) and pediatrics at the maternal-child operating unit of the Asl di Benevento: First of all parents should not send their children to school (and should not have done so before) if they have a temperature above 37.5 C or respiratory or flu-like symptoms, such as cough, nasal congestion, headache, sore throat, gastrointestinal disturbances (nausea / vomiting, diarrhea), myalgia (muscle aches, ed), which are clinical “signs” similar to those of Sars-CoV infection. Therefore, they must notify the school of the absence for health reasons and contact the pediatrician of free choice (or general practitioner), who will make an initial clinical evaluation through telephone triage, that is, a series of questions on symptoms and on any contacts with people positive for the virus or at risk of contagion – continues Russo -. It will be the pediatrician who will assess if the symptoms are related to Covid: For example, I will rule it out in the event that the child has only stomach ache and vomits because he ate a whole bag of potato chips. If, on the other hand, he suspects coronavirus infection, he will request a nasopharyngeal swab from the Prevention Department of the ASL, which carries out the test.

Covid issue

What if the swab positive? The pupil is quarantined and, in order to return to school, he will have to wait for clinical recovery (i.e. the total absence of symptoms) which must be confirmed by two swabs carried out 24 hours apart, both negative. Russo answers. Then the pediatrician certifies that the student can be readmitted to class having followed the Covid diagnostic-therapeutic path. Even if the pupil is negative in the test, certification is required to return to class. The exponent of the SIP explains: He will stay at home until clinical recovery, then the pediatrician will verify that he is free from pathology and will certify that he can return to school since the swab was performed and negative. The places where vaccinations are performed, in the ASL or in the pediatrician’s or family doctor’s office, they are safe and controlled reassures Paolo Becherucci, president of Sicupp. In addition, there are no contraindications to any vaccination during the circulation of the coronavirus. Vaccinating their children is an opportunity for them and also a duty to those who cannot, for illness or medical reasons.


September 11, 2020 (change September 12, 2020 | 18:33)

© REPRODUCTION RESERVED

– .

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.