As School Exclusion Day approaches, Lane County Public Health is holding a two-day walk-in immunization clinic to get kids up-to-date.
Children in school and child care must have up-to-date immunizations by February 15 or they may not be able to attend.
Lane County Public Health said in a press release announcing the clinic that they have sent out 1,650 letters to parents of children who have incomplete immunization records.
Last year, the agency said it sent out 2,300 letters and while, the decrease is good news for public health officials there are areas for improvement.
Specifically, there appears to be a trend towards a greater number of 2-5 year olds missing vaccines they may have received at 12 and 18 months related to missed well-child checks.
In order to achieve what’s called “community immunity” or “herd immunity”, which protects any given population from widespread communicable disease outbreaks, 94% of the population must be immunized and that is still not the case, according to Lane County Public Health .
“Its easy to think of your child’s immunizations as exclusive to their own, individual health,” said Lane County Chief Health Officer, Dr. Patrick Luedtke. “The fact is, each and every one of our children’s immunizations affects their health, the health of their classmates and the health of our entire community.”
“We know that it can be challenging for parents to find the time to schedule their child’s immunizations, hopefully these clinics will ease that burden,” said Lane County Communicable Disease Supervisor, Nicole Sticka, RN.
The clinic will take place:
- Tuesday, February 14 and Wednesday, February 15
- 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- Lane County Health & Human Services Charnelton Building
- 151 W. 7th Ave, room 310
Cost should not be a barrier to required immunizations, which are covered by the Vaccine for Children program. Children can also receive their required immunizations at their private provider, participating pharmacies, or a school based health clinic.