Whether you are having a baby, traveling to a new country, or preparing your children to go back to school, vaccines are recommended and often required to help protect you and your family.
Before you know it, it will be back to school time. New York State requires specific vaccines, and if not up to date, your child could be excluded from attending school. Make sure your children are prepared by being up to date on all required immunizations and recommended vaccinations. Do not wait to schedule appointments. Providers may not be able to accommodate last-minute appointments.
Vaccine recommendations vary. The recommendations depend on many factors including age, pregnancy, lifestyle, and health conditions. Both COVID-19 and flu vaccines are recommended to everyone six months or older. The Hepatitis A vaccine was introduced in the mid-1990s and now is part of children’s routine vaccinations. However, those of us who are older may have not received it yet. The need for other vaccines such as shingles, pneumococcal, or HPV depend on a person’s age, occupation, health status, and other risk factors. It is also important to consider certain vaccines when traveling outside of the United States especially in countries where vaccine preventable diseases are more present. For more specific information, visit Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/.
“Vaccines are an extremely valuable tool to protect the community from serious and deadly diseases,” said Oneida County Health Director Daniel W. Gilmore, Ph.D., MPH. “Contact your healthcare provider to make sure you are up to date. Call your children’s pediatrician to make sure they are up to date. If you do not have a healthcare provider, you should contact the county health department.”
The Oneida County Health Department Rome clinic is open on Mondays and the Utica clinic is open Monday through Friday. Extended hours are available this summer. Appointments are preferred and can be made by calling 315-798-5747. Appointments are filling up quickly.
