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Time for Back-to-School Immunizations
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Press Release
July 27,
2007
La Marque –
With the start of a new
school year rapidly approaching parents will be very busy getting school
supplies, school clothes and many other things children will need. The
Galveston County Health District would like to remind parents that making sure
their children’s immunizations are up to date is another task they should not
overlook. Schools require that children be properly immunized.
Dr. Mark Guidry, Galveston
County Health Authority, says “Vaccines are a great public health achievement.
Every year, immunization clinics see hundreds of parents and children seeking to
meet school-entry vaccination requirements. The Health District prepares for
this 'back-to-school' rush as its largest immunization campaign of the year.
However, we want to remind parents to make sure children are 'immunized on-time'
- which best protects the child and avoids the long lines during the
annual back-to-school rush.”
The Health
District will also be hosting their fifth annual Kids Health Fest, August
9th through the 29th. Vaccinations will be given in the
La Marque office at 1207 Oak Street on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Wednesdays immunizations will be given from 10 a.m. to
7 p.m.
A second
location where immunizations may be obtained is the Galveston Immunization
Clinic in the Island Community Center at 4700 Broadway which will be open on
Mondays and Fridays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
In addition to
usual clinic locations, this year the District will also partner with the Mall
of the Mainland to help parents seeking immunizations.
District
Immunization staff will be in the mall’s center court on Saturday August 4th
from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to provide back-to-schools shots. Parents may
conveniently shop for back to school items and at the same location, get their
child immunized for school entry.
Many children
may already be in the electronic immunization registry, known as ImmTrac. For
those children all a parent needs to provide is the child’s name and date of
birth to verify needed immunizations. If there is no record for a child,
parents will be given the opportunity to enroll their child in ImmTrac which
make their child's immunization records electronically available in frequent
circumstances when parents do not have a paper immunization record on hand.
Mall of the Mainland
management contacted the Health District with a desire to assist in immunization
efforts. “We need community support from individuals and the business community
all year long in order to make sure our children are protected from illness,”
says the District’s Director of Community Health Services Dr. Cassandra
Arceneaux. “By allowing our staff to offer immunizations and related records in
such a publicly accessible place as Mall of the Mainland their management has
shown they truly care about their community.”
Parents will also have an
opportunity to obtain immunizations at a Back to School Health Rally and
Education Fair sponsored by the Dickinson/Bay Area NAACP on August 18th
from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Rally will be held at Dunbar Middle School, 2901 23rd
Street in Dickinson.
Once again volunteers and
incentives will be used to make the experience of getting an immunization as
pleasant as possible. Members of the Health District’s Immunization Advisory
Council have assisted efforts by meeting regularly to brainstorm innovative
ideas on how to reach more kids. “We want to make sure that getting shots is as
pleasant an experience as possible for both parents and children,” says Dr.
Arceneaux. "We appreciate and welcome community support in terms of volunteers
and donations for incentives."
The Galveston County
Health District includes both childhood and adult immunizations in its strategic
health plan which is a tool guiding their activities through 2010.
For more information on
Galveston County Health District immunization activities or to volunteer time or
needed incentives such as children’s sticker, books, tokens or entertainment,
call (409) 938-2244 or visit
www.gchd.org.
For More Information Contact:
Kurt Koopmann
Public Information Officer
Galveston County Health District
409-938-2211 or 409-392-0007
kkoopman@gchd.org |
