Immunizations offered at local Health Dept.
Published 7:00 am Thursday, July 10, 2014
SHOT PREPARATION: A nurse at the Pearl River County Health Department prepares to give a child a shot by filling out paper work. As the first day of school approaches parents can expect longer wait times.
Photo by Jeremy Pittari
A new school year is less than a month away, and the closer it gets the longer the wait will be to have a child immunized.
Marjane Coleman, County Coordinating Nurse for the Pearl River County Health Department, said wait times are currently averaging about two hours. But the longer parents delay having their child immunized in preparation for the upcoming school year, the longer the wait will be.
To avoid the long waits parents who intend to register their child at the Pearl River Central School District can get their child the TDAP shot at the high school on July 31 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nurses will be at the school providing the shots to children who have not already received them.
By receiving their shots at the school on registration day parents can avoid the two to three hour wait associated with getting the shot at the local Health Department, Coleman said.
Coleman is working to offer a similar service at the Picayune School District next year. She already held one at Poplarville’s school district at the end of the last school year.
This will be the third year that children can receive the shot while their parents register them for school, Coleman said.
“It worked great last year,” Coleman said. “The parents loved it.”
All children entering the seventh grade are required to receive a TDAP vaccine, which was implemented in 2006 in 41 states, according to a release from the Mississippi State Department of Health.
Other vaccines are also recommended for varying age groups, all of which are offered at the local Health Department.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that 95 percent of parents in the nation vaccinate their offspring to protect them from diseases that could become fatal, according to a Health Department release.
“Childhood vaccinations protect your child and those around them,” said MSDH State Epidemiologist Dr. Thomas Dobbs in the release. “The back-to-school rush is our busiest immunization effort each year. It’s great to see children receiving required vaccinations and we remind parents the best protection is having their children immunized on time. By doing so they can avoid long lines during the back-to-school rush.
