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The New York City Health Department is reminding parents that children ages five and younger must have a flu shot

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Hoping to get the New Year off to a healthy start, the city's Health Department is reminding parents of children 5 and under, that their children will need a flu shot to return to daycare and preschool classes on Monday.

The regulation, which applies to some 150,000 children in city-licensed day care centers and preschools, was adopted by the Health Department, with the cooperation of the city's Department of Education, during the administration of former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

This is the first flu season during which it applies, and schools have a one-year grace period to enforce the regulation. Although the city will be checking student health records, the DOE and the New York Archdiocese, which administers the Catholic schools, will not exclude children without the shot, until 2016. Private schools and daycare centers can decide whether or not to keep children who do not have a flu shot home. In 2016, the city will begin charging fines ranging from $200 to $2,000 to schools who do not enforce the health regulation.

The regulation calls for at least one flu vaccination -- in shot or mist form -- between July 1 and Dec. 31 of each year. It applies to city-licensed child care programs, including mommy and me-style classes, part-time day care or preschool. It also applies to full-time preschool, which includes the 53,000 children in universal pre-k. Families may apply for religious or medical exemptions, as they can with other vaccines.

According to the Center for Disease Control, influenza ("the flu") is more dangerous than the common cold for children. Each year, many children get sick with seasonal influenza; some of those illnesses result in death.

Parents are advised to consult their pediatrician about the shots.

New York City is following in the footsteps of New Jersey and Connecticut that have similar flu shot mandates for infants and children in place.