El Rio Health Center wants to remind parents that back-to-school essentials mean more than backpacks and school supplies: It also includes immunizations.
On Saturday, the center is holding a free immunization clinic along with vision and dental screenings, and giveaways. Plus, there will be free backpacks to the first 200 kids who attend the event. Children must be accompanied by a guardian or parent.
“Immunizations have always been a critically important tool that we use to prevent death and disability in children and an important tool for public health at large,” said Dr. Andrew Arthur, El Rio medical director for pediatrics. “Children are largely the agents of spreading many communicable diseases, especially in group settings, and schools are perfect group settings where large numbers of children are brought together at once.”
Arthur said vaccines can protect children against 15 serious diseases. He said an outbreak of communicable disease can threaten not only the lives of children and their families, but can also disrupt the social and economic infrastructure of entire communities.
“In the days before vaccines when there was an outbreak of polio, the public pools in the community closed down. Now, with outbreaks of measles, if you have people who aren’t vaccinated against measles, they can’t be allowed to return to a setting where measles is present. Being vaccinated allows you access to activities in the community, and a person who is unvaccinated is putting themselves at risk as well as the community at large,” Arthur said.
Arthur said the intent of vaccinations is to provide direct protection to children and to ultimately achieve “herd immunity” through immunization of 95 percent or more of the population.
