With local children preparing to return to school Aug. 12, Warren County Health Department is reminding parents to get their children’s back-to-school immunizations now. “It’s very important for children to be up to date on their immunizations because vaccines help protect the health of students when they are in the classroom,” said Andrea Fox, director of Warren County Health Department.In Tennessee, children enrolling in school for the first time and all children going into seventh grade must provide schools with a state immunization certificate before classes start as proof they have had all the immunizations necessary to protect them and their classmates from serious vaccine-preventable diseases.“All students entering seventh grade are required to have proof they have had two doses of chickenpox vaccine, or a history of illness, and a booster shot for tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis or whooping cough, commonly known as Tdap, to protect them through their teens. Another required immunization is for measles, mumps and rubella, also known as MMR,” said Fox.This is also the age pediatricians recommend preteens get their first of three doses of a vaccine to help prevent cancers caused by the human papillomavirus and their first dose of meningitis vaccine.