School is almost back in session across the country, and along with that comes a matter of public health: vaccinations. Whether your child is preparing to enter school for the first time or getting ready to go into their final year of high school, staying up to date on vaccinations is important for the health of not just your student, but every student in the school.
Castle Country Radio sat down with Belle Wilstead and Jennifer Burdis from the Southeast Utah Health Department to talk about vaccinations and when and where you can get vaccinated.
Opening up our conversation, Wilstead first talked about the importance of vaccinations within schools,” as many of us are aware, school is a place where a lot of illness occurs and spreads super fast. School vaccination requirements help safeguard children by making sure they are protected when they get to school, where the potential for vaccine-preventable disease transmission is super high.”
Throughout primary school, there are two instances where new vaccines are required, those being kindergarten and seventh grade. “For kindergarten, a student on track will need a Measles Mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, varicella, DTaP, and polio.” Wilstead explained,” And when seventh grade comes around for them, it’s a TDAP and the ACWY meningococcal vaccine.”
In addition to these mandatory vaccines, there are a few recommended vaccines such as the human papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine, which is recommended for seventh graders, and booster shots to the ACWY vaccine which is recommended for ages 16 and up.
After this, Burdis spoke on when and where you can receive these vaccines,” On Tuesday, Aug. 6, we’re starting our seventh grade registration. So we’ll be down at Mont Harmon tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and we’ll have the vaccine trailer. So when parents are coming to get their kids registered, they can also stop by and get updated on all their vaccines.” Burdis continued,” And then on Wednesday, we’ll be down at Helper Junior High from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. So this is a great time to utilize the health department trailer as it will be right there.”
Outside of this traveling vaccine clinic, you can also receive your vaccinations at the SEUHD offices. To get vaccinated, a few things are needed such as an immunization record, photo I.D., proof of insurance and payment.
For more information on vaccine clinics and to stay up to date with the SEUHD, you can visit their website here or you can find them on Facebook.