ELMIRA N.Y. (WETM) — The start of the school year is quickly approaching, but before your child heads to school, they may need to head to their doctor’s office.

New York and Pennsylvania law require several immunizations before children can go to school for the first time. They are the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine (commonly referred to as TDAP or DTAP), hepatitis b , measles, mumps and rubella also known as MMR, polio, and varicella also known as the chickenpox vaccine.

For children entering day care or Pre K, New York state also requires the haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine for a specific type of the flu, and the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine that helps to prevent pneumonia.

New York only allows exemptions for medical reasons, while the state of Pennsylvania allows for both medical and religious exemptions. However, if an outbreak of a preventable disease happens your child can’t go to school without an immunization.

Health experts emphasize that along with protecting your child’s health keeping their immunizations up to date is also essential to making sure your child is not left behind when school starts

You can call your child’s pediatrician or your state’s health department to find out what vaccinations your child still needs. For more information about vaccine requirements you can visit New York’s website or Pennsylvania’s website.