Is software "hindering" kindergarten enrollment?

Even children who are properly vaccinated could have problems enrolling in kindergarten due to the software that, in addition to the doses received, also monitors whether they were given within the deadlines set by the immunization calendar.

Parents warned about this problem in a letter to the editorial office, and the Podgorica Health Center confirmed that the certificates function in this way, stating that they were "created in software so that they pull data according to the mandatory immunization calendar."

Parents claim that the problem occurs with children who received some of the vaccines later, that is, after the date specified in the calendar, which is why the certificate may indicate that the child is "not properly vaccinated." They fear that if the issue is not resolved before September, the kindergarten doors may be closed even to vaccinated children.

The Ministry of Health told "Vijesti" that the information system also records the optimal period in which a child, in accordance with the Mandatory Immunization Program, should receive a certain vaccine, as well as the actual dates of administration of all individual doses.

Therefore, as they state, a child who received a vaccine after the scheduled date may be notified that the immunization was not carried out within the scheduled time, but that this cannot be a reason for not enrolling in kindergarten.

Vojislav Šimun's department emphasizes that the child's vaccination status is determined by the selected pediatrician, by reviewing the child's electronic health record and available data on the immunizations carried out, and that preschool institutions will pay attention to the content of the certificates upon admission.

"A child who has been issued a certificate stating that their vaccination status is up to date meets the legally prescribed condition for attending a preschool institution and may attend the preschool institution. A child who has been issued a certificate stating that their vaccination status is not up to date, with a note that there is a justified reason for the delay in administering immunization, meets the legally prescribed condition for attending a preschool institution and may attend the preschool institution," the Ministry of Health responded to the editorial staff.

The Law on the Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases, which came into force at the beginning of the year, stipulates that mandatory vaccination is a condition for children to attend public and private preschool institutions, except in the case of a medical contraindication.

Parents: Correct the information system

In the letter, the parents point out that the note on the certificates that the child "has not been properly vaccinated" in most cases does not correspond to the actual situation.

"The problem is that this label does not correspond to the child's actual vaccination status. The children have received all the required vaccines, including MMR, but the information system, due to the way it automatically pulls data, records the child as 'irregularly vaccinated'," the parents stated.

They fear that this method of recording could lead to problems with enrollment in preschool institutions before the start of the new pedagogical year.

"We believe it is necessary to resolve the problem with the information system and the way data is displayed before the beginning of September, so that parents and children are not put in a situation where, due to a technical error in the system, they have problems enrolling in kindergarten," they said.

Parents are also asking for a check to see if the system can be corrected so that certificates show the child's actual vaccination status, regardless of whether a dose was received later.

13,2 percent of two-year-olds received the MMR vaccine - against measles, mumps and rubella - in 2025. This is one of the reasons, health authorities previously announced, for the adoption of regulations that prevent unvaccinated children from attending kindergartens.

A delay does not mean that the child has not been vaccinated.

The Ministry of Health says that a delay does not mean that the child has not been vaccinated.

"A delay in receiving a single dose is not the same as a missed mandatory immunization. If a child subsequently received a missed dose and, by the time the certificate is issued, received all the vaccines prescribed for his or her age by the Mandatory Immunization Program, the mere fact that one of the doses was received after the scheduled date is not a reason for the child to be considered unvaccinated or for his or her stay in a preschool institution to be prevented because of this," the Ministry said.

If the delay was due to a temporary, medically justified contraindication, and the child subsequently received the appropriate vaccine and continued immunization, this information is, according to the Ministry's response, recorded in the certificate note.

"This way, a clear distinction is made between children who have not received mandatory immunization and children who, for justified medical reasons, received certain doses late, but subsequently received the immunization properly," they stated.

Health Center: Actual situation in the note

The Podgorica Health Center also claims that children who are properly vaccinated will be able to attend preschool institutions.

The same, they say, applies to children who received the vaccine later, if the delay was for justified reasons.

"Children who subsequently received the vaccine, but it was postponed for justified reasons, will also be able to stay in preschool institutions, with a note from the selected pediatrician on the certificate that the vaccination was postponed for justified reasons," the Health Center responded.

The health institution also confirms what the parents point out - that the way the certificates are created is tied to the deadlines in the immunization calendar.

"The certificates were created using software to pull data according to the mandatory immunization calendar," the Health Center said.

They add that when immunization is postponed for a short period of time for a justified reason, such as a child's illness, the pediatrician will record the actual situation in a note on the certificate.

"If a situation arises where, for a justified reason, a child's immunization is postponed for a relatively short time and then carried out, for example after recovering from a cold or similar, the pediatrician will record the factual situation in a note included in the certificate and the child can stay in the preschool institution," they said.