VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Add a couple more vaccinations to your kindergartner’s back-to-school list this year.

The first shot is a  second dose of the chicken pox vaccine according to Vancouver Coastal Health.

“More children going into kindergarten will have had a single dose of chicken pox vaccine when they were one. So many of them will be due for their second dose of chicken pox vaccine,” Medical Health Officer Dr. Réka Gustafson explains. “At the same time, we are in the middle of a whooping cough outbreak and the children most affected are school-aged children.”

Gustafson says it’s also crucial to get protected against pertussis, and First Nations students will need a Hepatitis A shot come September.

She adds when your child gets vaccinated, you help protect others as well. But by not vaccinating, Gustafson says you are putting your little one at risk of contracting deadly childhood diseases.