Immunization Requirements for Incoming Students

REQUIRED IMMUNIZATIONS

Meningococcal (Meningitis)

The MCV4 Conjugate vaccine or MPSV4 Polysaccharide Vaccines are acceptable.  The brand names for the MCV4 Conjugate Vaccines are Menactra, Menveo, Menquadfi, MenHibrix or Penbraya.

Learn more about Meningitis.

More Meningitis information for students living in Temple University- owned housing.

Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR)
All newly enrolled or reenrolled students born after 1956 are required to show proof of two vaccinations for MMR.  Learn more about MMR.

Tetanus/Diphtheria/Pertussis (Tdap)
All newly enrolled or reenrolled students should have received Tdap within 10 years or Tdap older than 10 years and Diphtheria Tetanus (DT) within 10 years. Learn more about Tdap.

Varicella (Chickenpox)
All newly enrolled or reenrolled students are required to receive two doses of chickenpox vaccine.  Learn more about chickenpox.

Recommended Immunizations

The immunizations listed below are strongly recommended (but not required) for all Non-Clinical Temple University students.

COVID-19 Vaccine

The city of Philadelphia has dropped its COVID-19 vaccination mandate for students and employees at higher education institutions. Effective immediately, Temple University no longer requires COVID-19 vaccination for students, faculty or staff. 

The COVID-19 vaccine continues to prevent severe disease and Temple University strongly recommends that students, faculty and staff stay current on the vaccination, including booster recommendations. Please note that students, faculty and staff working in healthcare settings are still required to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.

Meningococcal B
Also known as Bexsero or Trumenba. This vaccine is effective against most of the more common meningococcal infections caused by serogroup B. These vaccines are given in a series of either two or three injections or are not interchangeable. (This vaccine alone does not satisfy the meningococcal requirement listed above.)

Hepatitis B
Three doses of hepatitis B vaccine are needed for immunity. Doses one and two must be administered at least four weeks apart. Dose three should be at least six months after the first dose and eight weeks after dose two. A blood test may be used to confirm immunity.

Influenza
The influenza (flu) vaccine is recommended annually for all members of campus community. This recommendation applies to any and all flu vaccines.

Human Paplilloma Virus (HPV)
The HPV vaccine is given in a three dose series. Three different vaccines have been used in the U.S. (Gardasil, Gardasil 9 and Cervarix).

Hepatitis A
The hepatitis A vaccine is a two-dose series given six to 18 months apart. In some cases, hepatitis A and hepatitis B are given as a combined vaccine, which would necessitate that three doses are needed for immunity.

Inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV)

Most adults have likely already been vaccinated against poliovirus during childhood.  However, if you know or suspect that you are unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated you should receive polio vaccination.  If you are fully vaccinated and are at increased risk of poliovirus exposure, including planning to travel to countries where there is an increased risk, you may receive a single lifetime booster dose of IPV.

Tuberculosis Screening

Students who are citizens of countries with a high rate of tuberculosis, including China, are required to be screened for tuberculosis.  Students required to have the tuberculosis screening will receive information in early September and that testing must be done at Student Health.

Please consult your school for specific immunization requirements if you are a Health Sciences Center student (including College of Public Health and Social Work, Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy and Podiatric Medicine). 

Learn more about the requirements for Health Sciences Center & College of Public Health students.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I complete the immunization requirements?

Complete online immunization entry at Patient Health Portal.

  • Log in using your Temple credentials and click on “Immunizations.”
Is there anything else I need to do after I complete the online immunization entry?

Yes, you still need to upload a copy of your immunization record. You can upload a picture of your immunization record on Patient Health Portal where you completed the online immunization entry. 

Do I need to complete a paper immunization form?

No, paper forms are no longer available.  Students should enter their immunization information on Immunization page of the Patient Health Portal and then UPLOAD a copy of their Immunization record(s).  

What if I do not have my immunization records to upload?

You can complete the online immunization entry. In circumstances of disease outbreak, you may be required to show proof of vaccination. At that time, you can either provide your records, obtain the necessary vaccination or obtain a blood titer test to show immunity against the disease.

What if I had the chickenpox (varicella) disease but I have not had the vaccine?

We recommend that you receive the vaccine. If you choose not to receive the vaccine you can waive the vaccine or obtain a blood titer test to show immunity against the disease. If you choose to waive the vaccination and there is a disease outbreak,  you may be required to obtain the vaccination or be quarantined.

Can I waive the immunization requirements if I do not believe in getting vaccinated?

Yes. You can choose to waive any or all of the immunizations in the Patient Health Portal.  Please login to the Patient Health Portal, select Forms then choose the Waiver Form for Immunizations.  If you choose to waive immunizations and there is a disease outbreak, you may be required to obtain the vaccination or be quarantined.

What does it mean to waive the immunization requirements?

Waiving the immunization requirements means that you are declining to receive the required vaccinations.

I am getting an error uploading my immunization record. What can I try?

In order to upload, the file has to be saved on your local machine. The file name is very long or may contain characters that are considered “potentially dangerous” by the IIS application on the web server. Please try to simplify the name of the file to be uploaded making sure to only use alpha characters and not special characters. While there may be other characters considered potentially dangerous, we are aware that the following characters will cause issues.

  • <
  • >
  • %
  • &
  • "
  • :
  • !

Colons (:) in the name of the file could also cause issues; this is seen when a file is dated or time stamped in the following example.  In this case, replace the colon with an underscore (_) in the name.

Additional Upload troubleshooting steps can be found towards the bottom of https://studenthealth.temple.edu/troubleshoot-patient-health-portal-issues