LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — CCSD schools have begun sending out reminder vaccination requirements to parents for their children to be able to attend school in the fall.
During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when families stayed home and healthcare facilities were closed, many children missed their routine immunizations, including the MMR vaccine – and they still may not have gotten all their recommended shots.
Dr. Carrie Wijesinghe of Siena Pediatrics in Henderson has started to see an uptick in vaccination administration again over the past year.
However, she said there have been anti-vaccination groups and their influence has impacted the overall vaccination rates. Due to this scenario, certain groups of children are now at high risk of preventable diseases.
Earlier this year there was a huge measles outbreak in Ohio which spread among children who were not fully vaccinated.
More than a third of the kids had to be hospitalized from the very contagious disease.
Health experts say you need to maintain a high vaccination coverage to keep it from spreading.
Dr. Joseph Iser retired as Chief Health Officer for the Southern Nevada Health District in 2020. He now represents the “American College of Preventative Medicine” with the following advice.
“Vaccines are the safest way, far safer than getting any of the diseases we’ve talked about, measles, mumps, polio; much safer than getting the disease itself, and will prevent illness and death,” Iser explained.
We have the complete list of what vaccinations you need at this link.
