(ABC 6 News)- It’s about that time again for every kid’s favorite thing: shots. That is with the new school year fast approaching.

“The higher vaccination rates you have, the less spread among kids. You have what’s called immunity,” said Pam Kellogg, who is the Public Health Manager at Mower County Health and Human Services.

Kellogg mentions what makes shots so important for kids sharing a classroom.

“If the majority of kids in school are vaccinated, that one child who maybe has a contra indication to the vaccine would be protected, because the other children are not bringing it in to the school,” Kellogg said.

One nurse at Rochester Public Schools lists the vaccines needed before the start of the school year.

“For the most part, as an incoming kindergartner student, they’ll need to go and get D-Tap, Polio, MMR, and Vericella vaccine for chicken pox. That sounds like a lot but those immunizations are combined into just two shots,” said Lisa Raymond, who is the licensed school nurse at RPS.

There is an option as a parent to back out of the vaccine if they chose to do so.

“If they don’t want to get vaccines for their children, they do have to follow or sign an official opt out with the district. It’s a form that needs to be notarized,” Raymond said.

Which isn’t uncommon for the state of Minnesota.

“There is some evidence showing that there are more parents opting not to have their child immunized. But we’re also seeing that there’s a lot more diseases that are popping up. Pertussis (whopping cough) is one of the big ones, because people aren’t being immunized at the correct times,” said Raymond.

Whopping cough is right there with the flu as being one of the more common diseases going into this school year, according to the Mower County Public Health and Human Services.