Student Health Services

• Parent/guardian
• Schools that you attended in the past
• Healthcare providers that you have utilized in the past
• State/city database

• A healthcare provider can order titers (blood tests) to see if you are immune
• You can receive the vaccines and provide the recent vaccination record to Student Health

• Healthcare provider in private practice
• Convenience care clinic (e.g., Walmart, CVS MinuteClinic, Rite Aid Take Care Health, Drexel Convenience Care Clinic)
• Local public health department
• Student Health Center: students must pay to receive vaccinations at the SHC as soon as the semester starts. Insurance is not accepted for vaccines at the SHC. Students will receive a receipt that may be submitted to their health insurance for reimbursement.

Immunization records that are submitted to the SHC get filed in a student’s personal chart. 

Quite often, a student may need to get a copy of their immunization record after he/she has graduated.  To obtain a copy of the record, please complete a Release of Authorized Information form and fax it to 215-951-6867 or bring it to the health center. 

Thomas Jefferson University Student Health Services (SHs) endorses the following statements:

• Vaccines (also called Immunizations) are crucial in the prevention of serious ill­ness. 
• Vaccines are safe.
• The recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the Centers for Disease Control are fully endorsed by the SHS; all children and young adults should receive recommended vaccines according to the schedule published by the ACIP.
• As outlined in available literature, evidence, and cur­rent research studies, vaccines do not cause autism or other developmental dis­abilities. Thimerosal, a preservative that has been in vaccines for decades and remains in some vaccines, does not cause autism or other developmental disabilities.
• Vaccinating children and young adults may be the single most important health-promoting intervention we per­form as health care providers, and that you can perform as an individual. The recommended vaccines and their schedule given are the results of years and years of scientific study and data gather­ing on millions of children by thousands of our brightest scientists and medical providers.

We do recognize that there has always been/may always be controversy surrounding vaccination. It is precisely because vaccines are so effective at preventing illness that there is even a discussion as to whether or not they should be given. Due to “herd immunity” and the fact that vaccines are working so well to relieve contagious disease burden in the United States, many do not know of the problems these preventable diseases can cause and therefore may not be inclined to vaccinate since the immediate danger is not seen on a daily basis. 

Such a healthy society and environment may lead to complacency about receiving vaccinations. This not only puts the unvaccinated individual at risk for contracting disease, but also puts society at risk by introducing a contagion that can affect even the vaccinated young, elderly, and immunocompromised.

We are making you aware of these facts not to scare you or coerce you, but to emphasize the importance of vaccinating yourself. Of course, the choice to vaccinate may be steeped in emotion, for you or your family members, but ultimately our hope is that you work to support your own health through vaccinations.  Not only will you be helping yourself, you will also be protecting those around you, whether it’s the people in your classroom, in your dorms, in the library, or in the dining halls.

 As medical professionals, we feel very strongly that vaccinating is absolutely the right thing to do for all children and young adults. Thank you for your time in reading this policy, and please feel free to discuss any questions or concerns you may have about vaccines with any one of us.

The above Policy template provided in part by the Immunization Action Coalition (PDF) • Item #P2067 (4/13)

ACHA Statement in Support of Vaccine Use to Promote Health & Prevent Disease

“Immunizations offer safe and effective protection from vaccine-preventable diseases. The United States is experiencing re-emergence of these diseases, in part due to factors such as un-immunized and under-immunized persons and global travel. The American College Health Association (ACHA) strongly supports the use of vaccines to protect the health of our individual students and our campus communities. In recognition of the vital role that vaccine coverage plays in community immunity (herd immunity), ACHA discourages nonmedical exemptions to required vaccines. Best practices for institutions of higher education include following Recommendations for Institutional Prematriculation Immunizations (RIPI) guidelines, encouraging students who request nonmedical waivers to be counseled by a health service clinician, and considering exclusion of unimmunized students from school during outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.

Adopted by the ACHA Executive Committee on behalf of the Board of Directors on April 15, 2014.”

• www.immunize.org
• www.vaccineinformation.org