New Clinic in Spring Valley on Thursday Mornings
NEW CITY, NY, – Rockland County Executive Ed Day and County Health Commissioner Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert announce additional immunization (shots) clinic hours in Pomona and a new immunization clinic in Spring Valley. Vaccines (shots) save lives and are a much safer way to build immunity than getting sick from the disease. Immunization can prevent disease or weaken its symptoms depending on the disease. The Commissioner reminds residents to check their family’s vaccination records for any gaps in recommended immunization.
Getting our “shots” helps children, teens, and adults stay healthy, allowing us to go to school, work, and play without getting sick from dangerous infectious diseases. In New York State, vaccination is required to attend school and daycare; thus, parents should make sure their children are fully vaccinated years before starting kindergarten. Many infectious diseases, such as measles, pertussis (whooping cough), polio, and even flu, can be very dangerous and even deadly in young children. It is important for parents to make sure their infants and children under 6 years of age get vaccinated on the recommended schedule (https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/
In the past several years, Rockland County has seen outbreaks of highly contagious and potentially deadly vaccine-preventable infectious diseases, including a case of paralytic polio last summer. These outbreaks resulted from a lack of immunizing children and parents waiting until the children were older. The young adult who contracted paralytic polio was unvaccinated. Poliovirus was found in local wastewater for several months showing the spread of the virus. Many years of research on polio tells us that one out of 200 to 2,000 people infected with the virus (depending on the type of poliovirus) will develop polio that causes paralysis (can’t move parts of the body). The only protection from this dangerous disease is immunization. Because of worldwide travel and low vaccination rates, it is possible polio maybe seen in our area again this year. Now is the time to protect yourself and your family from polio and other vaccine-preventable infectious diseases.
The Rockland County Dept of Health offers immunization clinics four days a week from 8:30 am to 11:00 am. The clinic on Mondays, Tuesdays (every other), and Wednesdays is located at the Yeager Health Center, 50 Sanatorium Road, Pomona, NY. The clinic on Thursdays is located at 14 S. Main Street, Spring Valley, NY. These clinics offer free immunizations to children of all ages and adults and are by appointment only (no walk-ins). To schedule an appointment, call 845-364-2520 or 845-364-2524.
For more information on the Rockland County Department of Health’s immunization clinics, visit http://rocklandgov.com/