Calli

We are moving to CT in a few weeks and I’ve checked the registration documents for schools in the neighbourhoods we are looking at and they require quite a few vaccines.

Unfortunately my older two children (6 and 9) haven’t had hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccines as they were not offered at the time, as far as I know hepatitis A is still not offered on the NHS but my youngest has had hep B on the nhs.

Connecticut requires 6 months between the two vaccine doses - does this mean that my children won’t be allowed to attend school for 6 months? Has anyone else has an exemption created for them? We are more than happy to give them the vaccines and they have had all the other ones but we don’t have a time machine!

Lion in Winter

I would contact the school district office, explain the situation, and ask what the solution is. They will almost certainly be helpful, and they don't want to keep children out of school.

lizzyq

When we moved to PA in 2014 we got our boys as up to date as possible on vaccines before we left. They had the first two hepatitis B jabs in the UK and were able to attend school with no problems as we had started the process. When the time came due/overdue for their 3rd shot the school informed us that they would need to have the shots by a certain date to be able to continue to attend school. There were no issues with any slight differences between UK DTP and US TDaP vaccines and the UK meningococcal vaccine also covered our local requirements. The other vaccination requirement to be aware of is chicken pox aka varicella - our youngest had it as a baby but our elder son had no history of having it, our UK GP was kind enough to get a blood test done on elder so which showed he did indeed have antibodies/immunity. The verbal report from us on younger son having had chicken pox was accepted by the school.

You will be able to fill in any vaccinations that are not easily available in the UK once you arrive in the USA.

I highly recommend getting up to date on all the vaccinations required for a possible future application to become permanent residents AND getting a print out from your UK GP of the vaccination records for all the family, then scanning and storing bother paper and virtual copies somewhere where you will be able to find them in the future. I keet ours with birth certificates etc.

Good luck on the move!

Calli

Thanks very much! We are not certain on our school district yet but I’ve been looking at our preferred district websites. We are looking at rentals in a week or so and will be able to contact the school then.

I’ve got a print out from our GP but frustratingly it doesn’t cover vaccinations that didn’t happen there. We got our chicken pox vaccines privately at Boots (which I have a record of) and recently got our children boosted for polio (5th jab) at a walk in Covid/polio clinic… which I also have a paper record of… This is really important because there is a rule that they must be over 4 for the most recent one!

tom169

County health department should help with vaccinations.

mum 2 3

When we came over in 2012 as long as my kids had received the first dose of the required vaccines we were allowed to start school and then complete the required second doses at the correct time for NJ. As soon as you have a school district, check if this is their policy. When it came time for green card applications I had no record of my rubella (done for all girls in school at age 13 not the drs) so I had to have the MMR at that time.

penguinsix

Generally, most schools let you start with the first vaccine of the process.

My understanding is that in say a 2-course shot, the second shot is just a 'safety'. For example, with Hep A after shot one, 95% of the people are protected. After shot two, 99.9% of the people are protected. For most people, you don't necessarily need the second shot--it's just the way to make sure everyone is fully protected. Schools are comfortable enough having you started the process.

As someone mentioned, the county in which you live in will often have a vaccine clinic for new students, sometimes even in the schools. You can touch base with the public health authority of your county before you arrive to see when the next clinic might be offered. Often for free or a low-cost.

zzrmark

While you may not be able to get freebie vaccines through the NHS it would be worth speaking to your GP, mine was more than happy to charge me for jabs not offered on the NHS.
I was also able to find somewhere that wasn't a doctor's surgery who were also more than happy to charge me for a jab - can't remember who it was but I was staying with my brother in Bury St Edmunds at the time, so it was probably there.
As I was doing three month stays alternating between the UK and US until my paperwork was sorted I also used my local health center in the US for follow up jabs.
Nobody on either side of the Atlantic cared who had given what stage vaccine or where, all they cared about was that authorization number from the plastic company, something you'll soon get used to in the US if you don't have a great medical package to rely on ...

Calli

Thanks, I’ve booked an appointment with a paediatrician to do the “health check” part of the school criteria this week so no doubt they will try and flog us some jabs.

We have “Aetna Choice POS II” with $0 deductible but I don’t really know what that means! Everyone says it’s v good so I’m hoping it will be fine…

karenkaren1

kids vaccines come under preventative care which is usually free with insurance.

tht

Nothing is free with insurance, I think what you mean to say is no copay, coinsurance or deductible that you you pay out of pocket.

You either pay for the policy on the marketplace or your employer/spouses employer or parent if you are a dependent receive the insurance or part of it as part of their non cash compensation package, either way you pay, you just don’t have “out of pocket” costs to pay for that specific service.

tht

I believe that plan allows both in network and out of network so you should be able to go to most doctors. Aetna is OK in CT, I think the only one our children’s pediatrician in Westport won’t take is Blue Cross Blue Shield.

As a new patient they may treat you differently but generally with the one we are with (and the popular ones can have a waitlist to become a patient) they will only do shots at the annual checkups, flu shots they only give at big clinics specificity for that (last year due to CV19 they did it drive through) and they did not offer CV19 ones so we had to go to the town clinics / CVS.

My wife did the school enrollment, they do it every year (I guess in case you move house) and have to provide all sorts of original documents to show you qualify to go to a specific school, I think we had to provide mortgage statement, a utility bill and car registration, ID and kids birth certificate or passport. I assume a lease as a renter. I think people try to fudge it with relatives addresses so kids can go to a better school which is why they ask for so much. If you are doing private school I assume all they will want is a check…

Calli

I’ve been told it allows out of network, but I’ve not seen the paperwork for the plan.

Re: all the paperwork required for school… Wow… tbh that definitely happens in London too though where families will rent a tiny studio flat in a catchment and say they live there. We were recommended Willows in Westport, any good?

tht

We are at Willows and are happy, it’s a bit of a drive from Fairfield (town) but it’s what’s the Mrs picked after research. Once you decide on the practice you have to decide on the actual doctor and in some practices the insurance they take can vary, I don’t think willow is like that.

You should be able to find information online:
https://www.aetna.com/docfind/cms/as...ed/PPOPlan.pdf

I think the POS means you can go direct to a specialist and not have to be referred by you PCP (primary care physician) if you have one.

You may be able to google the plan and find it with the employer name, if not it will be similar under other employers/

https://www.hr.upenn.edu/PennHR/bene...-choice-pos-ii

Calli

Thanks that’s helpful, I’m going to try and register with Willows when we arrive.

I don’t think I will be able to find the employer plan online as it’s quite a small (and secretive) employer. My friend has said that she just goes without referrals and it’s always covered and that she’s never had to pay anything - sometimes she pays upfront for medicine but then it automatically is paid back into her account. I don’t know how this works…

We have some medical stuff that we haven’t managed to get sorted here so I’m hoping to get it sorted when we get out there. Frustratingly, despite our UK insurance covering just about everything, I’ve really struggled to find private paediatric specialists in London with availability.