The Department of Health will be requiring more vaccinations for seventh graders before the 2015-16 school year. Because of this, all freshmen entering the high school in 2016 will have been vaccinated as required by the new law.

The new immunization laws will include a required meningi- tis vaccination as well as a Teta- nus- Diphtheria-Pertussis (TDaP) booster. According to Karen Dorn, one of Park’s high school

nurses, these new laws will keep students healthy and help avoid preventable diseases.

“Pertussis (whooping cough) was added as a requirement be- cause the effectiveness of the per- tussis vaccine wanes over time, and there has been an uptick in the number of cases over the last few years,” Dorn said.

Despite the fact the require- ments will not affect current high schoolers, Amanda Anderson, another nurse at Park believes these immunizations should still be taken by most students so they can stay healthy after high school.

“Most colleges will recommend students get these vaccines so they can prevent the spread of disease since students live in close spaces,” Anderson said.

These colleges include the University of Minnesota, which requires students to get certain immunizations in order to keep their school disease-free.

According to the University of Minnesota’s website, the univer- sity requires immunizations for staff and students to maintain a high standard of health.

Although these shots are re- quired to go to school, students can be exempt from them if they decide not to for medical or per- sonal reasons.

“There are exemptions al- lowed for medical reasons docu- mented by a physician or for the conscientious beliefs of a parent

when a notarized statement is provided,” Dorn said.

The exemptions are important for students such as incoming freshman Jade LaBelle who said she believes the vaccines are more harmful than helpful.

“I don’t think they’re neces- sary,” LaBelle said. “The vac- cines have more negative side ef- fects than benefits.”

Since the laws are only for incoming seventh graders, high schoolers will not be affected by the new requirements, Dorn said.

“For the present time, high school students can rest easy. While there are vaccines needed for school, there are no new re- quirements for this year or next,” Dorn said