Tired of the back-to-school rush? Look at it from a pediatrician’s perspective

BY JOHN COX
Jul 25, 2025
The Bakersfield Californian

If the back-to-school blues have you down, just be glad you’re not a pediatrician.

Late summer is when things can get crazy for the doctors who parents run to when they’re told in August their kids won’t be let into class until they’ve had their shots. Then it’s go time, not just for doctors in offices but mobile clinics that handle the overflow of people who can’t get an appointment.

Even then things don’t always run smoothly. Some parents have reservations about vaccinations most schools require. Others are more adamant: They want a waiver. But that’s hard for two reasons. Criteria for waivers largely come down to allergies, and few children qualify on that basis. Beyond that, pediatricians genuinely want to protect students from dangerous illnesses, and they see vaccinating the vast majority of children as the best way to do that.

Dr. Crystal Carney understands, though. She’s a parent. “It’s always scary to do something that you can’t take back,” said the director of pediatrics at Dignity Health – Memorial Hospital.

Parents who otherwise are ready to send their kids off to school may be in for a surprise if they haven’t already checked out their school’s requirements regarding vaccinations and, in some cases, physical exams. Because there’s a lot to it. First thing to know is, some rules vary by school district while others are government-required. Private schools may be more forgiving and homeschooling is the most permissive of all. Physicals stopped being a state requirement on Jan. 1 but many school districts still insist on them.

The Kern County Superintendent of Schools tells incoming parents to present a physical exam form completed within the past 12 months, plus up-to-date shots and tuberculosis clearance. Kern County Public Health said that, generally, children entering kindergarten or TK must have four doses of polio vaccine; five doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine; three doses of Hepatitis B vaccine; two doses of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine; and two doses of varicella (chickenpox) vaccine. It said students entering seventh or up to 12th grade need an additional dose of tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis vaccine administered after their seventh birthday. A department spokeswoman noted some requirements can be met with fewer doses depending on the age. Medical exemptions, she said, can only be issued by licensed physicians.

Clinica Sierra Vista sees a lot of families trying to comply with the rules to get their kids in school. It said parents are committed to their children’s health and make a “huge effort” to meet expectations, but that some need reminders to keep them on track. A spokesman for the locally based chain of medical clinics said it can be tough to accommodate last-minute requests toward the end of summer break.

“Parents often have very busy schedules, making it challenging to schedule appointments,” Clinica spokesman Christhian Pinedo Torres said by email. “That’s why we offer flexible scheduling options and work closely with families to ensure the process is as convenient as possible.“

Pediatrician Dr. Daniel Adams with Omni Family Health in Bakersfield gets it. As a parent, he can “totally relate to what the parents are dealing with and how it’s not always easy to schedule ahead of time.” Even so, he urges parents to step up and set appointments ahead of time, if only because some vaccinations require more than one appointment. Dental evaluations may also be necessary, he said, and depending on the child’s age, different screenings may be in order, including vision and hearing exams. But an exemption from vaccines? Probably not, Adams said. He’s never done one because he’s never come across a child with a severe allergy that would qualify. More likely are cases in which deep skeptics resort to homeschooling rather than let their child get vaccinated. “It almost never comes across,” he said. “Those kinds of (waiver) cases are very, very, very, very rare. And we would need to go through some sort of (registry) portal to do that.”

Carney at Bakersfield Memorial blames the staunchest anti-vaccine attitudes on misinformation. The polio vaccine, for example, has been around for decades, having been administered to up to 97% of the population. The shots are “very, very well tested,” she said. But she feels for parents who are nervous, whose friends or family members make them feel terrible for allowing their kids to be vaccinated. “Even if they know it’s the right thing to do, they’ve very nervous,” she said. “My heart just bleeds for vaccine-hesitant families.”