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Bay Area News
Free immunizations offered by Health District
by NGCCC
Galveston County and Cities - The Galveston County Health District will
offer free immunizations as part of its strategic health priority and goals
to immunize children against vaccine-preventable diseases during National
Infant Immunization Week being observed April 19-26, 2008.
National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW) is an annual observance to educate
the public about the importance of protecting infants from
vaccine-preventable diseases and celebrate the achievements of immunization
programs in pro moting healthy communities.
To assist parents and others in making sure infants are adequately immunized
the Health District has a reminder system for all families that access
vaccinations in District operated immunization clinics.
"For children that receive immunizations in the District's public clinics,
reminders are sent to parents when their children need their next shot. This
has been very beneficial to improving compliance rates," according to Dr.
Cassandra Arceneaux, GCHD Director of Community Health Services. "We also
work all year long in the community distributing outreach and educational
materials on the importance of immunizing on-time at health fairs and school
programs." Vaccine-preventable diseases are at an all-time low in the United
States. However, these diseases still exist and continued vaccination is
necessary to protect everyone from potential outbreaks. For example, in
Galveston County last year th ere we re 16 cases of acute Hepatitis B, 135
cases of chickenpox, one HIB case and one whooping cough case. This
highlights the continued importance of vaccinating children on-time.
Immunization is a shared responsibility. Families, healthcare providers, and
public health officials must work together to help protect the entire
community. Dr. Mark Guidry, Galveston County Health Authority says,
"Properly immunizing is one of the most important things a parent can do for
a child. Inadequately immunized children are not only at risk of contracting
diseases, but they are also at risk of spreading diseases to their family
members and others in the community. It is extremely important that children
get their vaccinations in the prescribed timeframes."
Free immunizations will be given at Galveston County Health District
Immunization Clinics on the following days.
Dickinson, 905 FM 517 E: Tuesday April 22, Thursday April 24, and Friday Apr
il
25, 8:30 - 11:30 am and 1 - 4 pm.
Galveston, 4700 Broadway: Monday April 21, 8:30 - 11:30 am and 1 - 4 pm;
Wednesday April 23, 10 - 2 pm and 3 - 7 pm.
Texas City, 2000 Texas Ave: Monday April 21, Wednesday April 23, Thursday
April
24, and Friday April 25, 8:30 - 11:30 am and 1-4 pm; Tuesday April 22, 10 -
2 pm
and 3 - 7 pm
For more information readers can call the District's Immunization Services
at
(409) 938-2244.
For More Information Contact:
Kurt Koopmann
Public Information Officer
Galveston County Health District
(409) 938-2211 Office
(409) 392-0007 Cell
kkoopman@gchd.org
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