Time is running out on a suspension of the requirements for students to have their childhood immunizations up-to-date in order to attend school.

In late July, the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced the suspended requirement, which was good for the first two months of the school year.

With the clocking ticking, local school officials are urging families to make sure immunizations are up-to-date for all K-12 students, whether attending classes in person or online.

“Our elementary and middle school numbers seem to be good, but at the high school we had around 50 students who we still needed paperwork for at the last count,” Tim Tkach, assistant to the superintendent at Lehighton Area School District, said. “Our deadline is Nov. 9. The thing we want to stress is that all students, no matter the method of education they are receiving, need to comply, according to state code.”

The Pennsylvania Department of Health lists the following as the required immunizations for all school-age children:

• Four doses of tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis (one dose on or after the fourth birthday)

• Four doses of polio (fourth dose on or after 4th birthday and at least six months after previous dose given)

• Two doses of measles, mumps, rubella

• Three doses of hepatitis B

• Two doses of varicella (chickenpox) or evidence of immunity

Seventh grade students also need one dose of tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis (Tdap), and one dose of meningococcal conjugate vaccine.

One dose of meningococcal conjugate vaccine is also required for 12th grade students.

Even students who will never come into a school building for the 2020-21 school year will be excluded by districts unless they have the immunizations or a state exemption is filed for families who have medical, religious, or philosophical objections to vaccination.

“The department continues to stress the importance of immunizations,” the Pa. Department of Health posted on its website. “Childhood immunizations are essential to individual and population health. Immunizations protect children against the potentially devastating effects of vaccine-preventable diseases.”