In fact, because of a new city requirement, young children can, for the first time in the city’s history, be excluded from class if they have not received a flu vaccination.
The new rule, which applies to some 150,000 children in city-licensed day care centers and preschools, was quietly adopted by the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in the waning days of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s administration. This is the first flu season during which it applies. New York City joins New Jersey and Connecticut in implementing a mandatory flu vaccine for children between 6 months and 5 years of age.
The city had been lagging behind the national average in preschool flu immunization rates, and officials are expecting that the new mandate will help. They have pointed to the success of Connecticut’s program, which raised vaccination rates among young children to 84 percent from 68 percent, and reduced hospitalizations from the flu by 12 percent, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
