Health district offers back-to-school shots, August clinics

Summer is an excellent opportunity to get school children caught up on immunizations at the Southern Nevada Health District. Immunizations are available Monday-Friday, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at all of its public health centers.

Parents must bring immunization records. Children with no records will have to begin the immunization sequence from the beginning. Noncustodial adults may accompany a child, however, written consent must be provided to the health district from the parent or guardian at the time of service.

An administrative fee of $16 per patient for one immunization or $25 per patient for two or more immunizations will be collected. Some vaccines might require an additional fee.

For more information, contact the Southern Nevada Health District's immunization office at 759-0850 or visit the site www.SouthernNevadaHealthDistrict.org.

The Clark County School District requires the following vaccinations for students enrolling in public or private school: chickenpox (varicella); hepatitis A; hepatitis B; polio; tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis (Tdap); and measles-mumps-rubella (MMR). Parents who have recently moved to Nevada should note the chickenpox and hepatitis A vaccinations are not required in all states, so immunizations that were up-to-date in other states might not be current in Nevada.

The health district also suggests a second dose of the chickenpox vaccine for school-age children as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In addition, children entering seventh grade must be immunized against Bordetella pertussis. The health district provides the Tdap (tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis) vaccine to meet the mandate. College freshmen younger than 24 years old who will live in on-campus housing at a Nevada college or university are required to receive the Neisseria meningiditis (Meningococcus) vaccine.

The Southern Nevada Health District will offer extended hours for back-to-school immunizations between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. at its Shadow Lane location Monday-Friday, Aug. 17-21, and Monday-Friday, Aug. 24-28. The health district's Shadow Lane location will also offer Saturday back-to-school immunization clinics: Aug. 8, 15 and 22 between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. No other health district services will be offered after 4:30 p.m. or during Saturday clinics.

The health district will hold immunization clinics at several local malls in August between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.: Meadows Mall, 4300 Meadows Lane, Saturday, Aug. 8; Boulevard Mall, 3528 S. Maryland Parkway, Saturday, Aug. 15; and Galleria Mall at Sunset, 1300 W. Sunset Road in Henderson, Saturday, Aug. 22.