Lane County Public Health Sends Out 1,606 Exclusion Day letters; Hosts 2-Day Walk-In Exclusion Day Immunization Clinic
To help parents get their child’s immunizations up-to-date for this year’s Exclusion Day, Lane County Public Health’s (LCPH) Communicable Disease section will be hosting a 2-day immunization clinic, Tuesday February 20 and Wednesday, February 21. Every year, Lane County Public Health officials review more than 50,000 records in order to make sure children’s immunizations are up-to-date. For those children whose immunization record is incomplete, a letter has been sent out to their parents asking them to schedule the required immunizations for their child.
“We know that it can be challenging for parents to find the time to schedule their child’s immunizations, hopefully these clinics will ease that burden,” said Lane County Communicable Disease Supervisor, Cindy Morgan.
This year, LCPH sent out 1,606 letters as compared to last year’s 2,222. The increase is good news for public health officials but highlights areas for improvement. In order to achieve what’s called “community immunity” or “herd immunity”, which protects any given population from widespread communicable disease outbreaks, 94% of the population must be immunized and that is still not the case.
“Its easy to think of your child’s immunizations as exclusive to their own, individual health,” said Lane County Chief Health Officer, Dr. Patrick Luedtke. “The fact is, each and every one of our children’s immunizations affects their health, the health of their classmates and the health of our entire community.”
The clinic will take place on the 3rd floor, in Room 310, at Lane County Health & Human Services Charnelton Building at 151 W. 7th Ave. from 8:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Families who live in Springfield and neighboring communities can call Community Health Centers of Lane County Clinics at (541) 682-3550 to schedule an appointment at one of the other Community Health Centers of Lane County Clinics.
Cost should not be a barrier to required immunizations, which are covered by the Vaccine for Children program. Children can also receive their required immunizations at their private provider, or school based health clinics.
Lane County Public Health is a division of Lane County Health & Human Services. Their programs and services create a healthier and safer community through disease prevention, health promotion, and protection from environmental threats. Learn more about the work of Lane County Public Health here.