Vaccination for kids | ExpatWoman.com
 

Vaccination for kids

185
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 10 January 2014 - 12:17

Hi dear all,
this is my first post to the forum. I thank you all for this useful forum and greet everyone.

We are planning moving to Doha (me, my husband and our daughter aged 8), and I need this information: are there compulsory vaccination for kids, necessary to have the immigration VISA? Are there compulsory vaccinations for schools? If so, which are the compulsory vaccinations? A school can deny admission if some vaccinations are missing, if the parents state their responsible choice not to vaccinate? Thanks a lot

Eleonor

95
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 12 January 2014 - 08:39
Hi Eleonor, Our school just requires that the kids have a vaccination record. They do not have a list of required vaccines. Jen
1326
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 11 January 2014 - 10:41
ASD definitely checks and is quite strict about it. I was just speaking to a mom who went through quite a negotiation with them regarding some vaccines that she did not want her daughter to have.
145
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 11 January 2014 - 08:30
The Supreme Education Council of Qatar make it compulsory for all children enrolling in schools to provide a vaccination record . I have never heard of schools checking which vaccinations are present or not , they just require the certificates. BUT In the past, there was mass compulsory vaccination of all school children of the MMR vaccine whether or not they had had it. Bear in mind many of the children in school will be boarding planes frequently and may be in contact with people and places that aren't as sanitary as Qatar and the vaccination schedule and types are quite different to those given in Europe . I had some catch up vaccines given to my elder kids when we arrived.
40
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 10 January 2014 - 23:55
I would check with an international vaccination centre, if something like that exists in Italy. I've seen outbreaks of all sorts of childhood diseases amongst adults, mainly on offshore installations. Many of these diseases can be quite a problem for older children, and especially for adults. And lets not forget: these people come into the country via the airport where they easily infect other people, who might spread it around. Also keep in mind that there might be a bigger group of people that are not vaccinated against some diseases. Diphtheria for example might not be a big problem in Europe as most people are vaccinated, thus your child is quite protected. This could be quite different in Qatar.
185
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 10 January 2014 - 14:53
Dear Jen, yes you have been very helpful, and what the school says will help me too. I'll wait for your answer in the next days. Thanks a lot. We are Italian and it Italy some vaccinations are compulsory, others are not, and anyway if parents state that they don't want some or all of the compulsory vaccinations, it is accepted, so we decided, together with our medical doctor, and after having read a lot of scientific literature pro and contrary, to do some of the compulsory vaccinations (antipolio and antitetanic) and not to do some others that we deem unnecessary in Italy. Now our daughter is 8 years old and we have to face this subject again, because some of the schools where we are applying are asking, as a normal procedure, the vaccination register, and we fear that missing vaccinations can be a problem for admission, so, before talking to the school about this subject, we wanted to be aware of what is the general attitude in Qatar about vaccination, in order to decide whether it is better to vaccinate our daughter or if it is unnecessary. I've read that in Qatar there are not particular sanitary risks. Eleonor
95
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 10 January 2014 - 14:33
Hi Eleonor, We moved last year with our three kids and they did not ask for any evidence of the kids vaccination records for the visas. The school did ask for the records but did not say that they were compulsory. I can ask at the school and get back to you on Sunday if no one else has answered by then. Hope this helps, Jen