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There’s no excuse for not
getting immunized
An editorial by Heber Taylor
published in the Galveston
Daily News
April 23, 2005Beginning today, some public health workers and volunteers are going to try to
prevent a tragedy.
They need your help.
If you’re a parent, they
need you to bring your children to get their immunizations. The shots are free. If you’re a concerned
citizen — and you are if you’re reading this page of the hometown paper — they
need your help in spreading the word.It’s important, of course,
to make sure that your own children and grandchildren are properly immunized. What you might not know is
that it’s also important to make sure the children down the street are properly
immunized.
A high rate of immunization in large populations is the best way to
defend against infectious diseases.
Since the 100 percent effective vaccine hasn’t been developed, there are no
magic bullets. Although the odds favor the children who are vaccinated, there
are no guarantees. It’s possible for a vaccinated child to be infected.
However,
when virtually everyone is vaccinated, the picture changes dramatically. There
is no place for the infectious organism to go.
That’s the reason that diseases that were once dreaded — such as smallpox and
polio — no longer inspire such fear in developed countries.
It would be wonderful if
Galveston County had uniformly high rates
of immunization. It probably does not.
While the numbers aren’t as solid as they might be, the data that are available
suggest rates in Galveston could be miserably low. It’s possible that only two
out of three 3-year-olds on the island are immunized.
There are diseases out there that can cause birth defects, cripple children and
kill.
How protected do you want the community to be?
We urge you to do everything you can to make sure all the kids you know are
immunized.
We also applaud the county health district and the Galveston Island Infant
Immunization Initiative in making the immunizations available.
County Health District Immunization Sites
- Texas City Immunization Clinic, 2000 Texas Ave., (409) 949-3459.
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m. to 4
p.m.
Tuesday: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- Galveston Immunization Clinic, 4700 Broadway, (409) 763-7227
Monday: 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Wednesday: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- Dickinson Immunization Clinic, 905 Pine Drive, (281) 337-4043.
Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
- La Marque Immunization Clinic, 1207 Oak St. (409) 938-2244.
Today: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Galveston Island Infant Immunization Initiative sites
Wal-Mart (McDonald’s),
6702 Seawall Blvd.
-
Arlan’s
Market, 2415 Ave. P.
Today and Sunday: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Monday: 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
See the Press Release
For More Information Contact:
Kurt Koopmann
Public Information Officer
Galveston County Health District
(409) 938-2211
kkoopman@gchd.org
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