As summer draws to a close, health officials urge parents to check their child's vaccination records and get them up to date before school starts.
Students from pre-school through 12th grade are required to be immunized against a host of preventable diseases. If kids aren’t up to date with the necessary doses, they’ll be excluded from school starting in mid-February.
Lane County Public Health spokesperson Jason Davis said a high level of student immunization has a ripple effect.
“Anybody who has had kids understands how sick you get as a parent as your kid enters school,” he said. “Disease spread is real. And so, by protecting ourselves against some of those vaccine-preventable illnesses that cause the most impact, the most damage, we effectively create better health across our community.”
Davis added required student vaccinations are available at many pharmacies and through numerous health care providers including Lane County’s Communicable Disease Clinic in downtown Eugene.
Parents can find a complete list of student required vaccinations here, as well as information about exemptions.
Health officials want parents to get ahead of the back-to-school scramble by checking their kid’s vaccination records and getting any missing doses now.
Davis said the whole reason for this public health requirement is to make sure school kids are properly vaccinated when they’re mingling with other children and school staff.
