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Vaccination Mandates in Washington State

The legislature and Board of Health and are empowered to determine the school and daycare vaccine mandate schedule in Washington. Currently, a subset of the entire CDC schedule of shots are mandated. Exemptions are allowed for medical, religious and personal/philosophical reasons.

VAX FAST FACTS for Washington

  • For children in Washington State, current law “requires” certain vaccines for attendance at LICENSED DAYCARE, PRESCHOOL, and KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE TWELVE.
  • Washington State mandates 25 vaccine injections for the following diseases with a number of shots by certain ages:
    • Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis – 4 injections of DTaP before 18 months, a 5th by age 7; TDaP after age 7
    • Hepatitis B – 3 injections of HepB before 18 months
    • Hib – 4 injections before 15 months
    • Measles, Mumps, Rubella – 2 injections of MMR before age 7
    • Pneumococcal – 4 injections of PCV before 15 months
    • Polio – 4 injections of IPV before age 7
    • Chickenpox – 2 injections of varicella before age 7
  • Washington state has no vaccination requirements for children outside of DAYCARE and SCHOOL settings.
  • For each school child, you will be asked to fill out either a Certificate of Immunization Status (CIS) or Certificate of Exemption (COE). Homeschooled children are not required to submit these forms. Homeschool parents may be requested to submit these forms by schools if your child is involved in other school-related activities.
  • Washington state law provides for medical and religious exemptions to the MMR, and medical, religious, and personal/philosophical exemptions to all other mandated shots.
  • Everyone qualifies for a religious exemption in the United States because its based on your personal religious beliefs.
  • See our Religious Exemptions Clarified page.
  • The law requires parents filing medical, religious, and personal exemptions to show proof (via a signature on the Certificate of Exemption (COE) or a practitioner signed letter stating only that they have consulted with a practitioner about the risks and benefits of vaccination.
  • Having difficulty obtaining a signature on the exemption form?
    Sadly, many doctors do not know the law or resist it by expressing hesitancy to sign.  The Dept. of Health’s Exemption Toolkit should be handed to doctors who struggle with the exemption process.