California school vaccine rules and your child’s record
The short answer for California
- Required for school
- California K-12 (including transitional kindergarten): DTaP/Tdap, polio, hepatitis B, MMR, varicella. Source · Official page
- If your child is behind on shots
- Schools may conditionally admit a pupil who lacks documentation if doses are started and none is currently due. Source
- Get the record
- The state's Digital Vaccine Record Portal is the first place CDPH points to for a record. Source · Official page
Checked 11 Nov 2026 against the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) pages. The federal schedule is in court: see what cdc.gov shows today and what changed.
California points parents to its online record portal first, and sets school rules on one chart.
Run by California Department of Public Health (CDPH). Records portal: Digital Vaccine Record portal. All facts on this page were checked on or after 11 Nov 2026.
Which schedule the state follows
- California (CDPH, with the West Coast Health Alliance) recommends the AAP scheduleSource: cdph.ca.gov
For how the AAP and CDC schedules differ, see the comparison.
From the record to the school
Get your child’s record
- Good to know Schools your child attended may be able to look up old records
Sources: cdph.ca.gov
School and child care rules
- Required vaccines Polio is part of the K-12 requirement (footnote 4 of CDPH chart IMM-231)[S1]
- Required vaccines For 7th grade advancement a pupil needs 1 Tdap; for 7th to 12th graders at least one dose of pertussis-containing vaccine is required on or after the 7th birthday[S1]
- Required vaccines Child care: the CDPH chart lists polio (inactivated), DTaP, hepatitis B and Hib by age checkpoint, with varicella and MMR (on or after the 1st birthday) at the later checkpoints; one Hib dose must be given on or after the 1st birthday regardless of previous doses[S2]
- Deadline Child care: parents must show the child’s immunization record as proof before starting pre-kindergarten (child care) and again at each age checkpoint after entry; the CDPH chart’s checkpoints are 2–3 months, 4-5 months, 6-14 months, 15-17 months and 18 months to 5 years[S2]
- Good to know A pupil transferring from another US school whose record has not arrived can be admitted for up to 30 school days; if the record has not arrived by the end of that period, the school shall exclude the pupil until the parent or guardian provides documentation of compliance[S1]
- Recent change The earlier 2-dose varicella requirement for 7th grade advancement expired on 30 June 2025 (CDPH chart IMM-231, 6/25)[S1]
- Good to know After conditional admission, the CDPH conditional admission schedule gives an “Exclude If Not Given By” time for each dose, for example the 2nd MMR dose 4 months after the 1st; the school reviews the record of a conditionally admitted pupil at least every 30 days from the date of admission[S1]
- Good to know Any vaccine given four or fewer days before the minimum required age is valid for school entry (CDPH chart IMM-231, footnote 3)[S1]
- Good to know School and child care vaccine requirements remain the same despite recent federal changes[S3]
Sources: S1. cdph.ca.gov/IMM-231, S2. cdph.ca.gov/IMM-222ChildCare, S3. cdph.ca.gov/shotsforschool.aspx
Exemptions
- California chart IMM-231 names permanent and temporary medical exemptions
Sources: cdph.ca.gov
Other states: Texas, Florida, Colorado, Wisconsin. All states.