The Brownwood/Brown County Health Department  joins in celebrating National Immunization Awareness Month each year in August. The purpose of NIAM is to focus the public’s attention on the importance of immunizations for all ages. Immunizations have significantly reduced the incidence of many serious infectious diseases, however, vaccination rates for some diseases are not meeting national public health goals

At this time of year, the priority of many parents is to get any immunizations their children may need before they go back to school. The Brownwood/Brown County Health Department would like to remind parents of the immunization services available at BBCHD. Children who qualify for the Texas Vaccines for Children program can get all their back to school vaccines at the health department. The child must meet one of the following criteria in order to qualify for the state vaccines:

*the child must be Medicaid eligible

*the child must have CHIPS

*the child must be Alaskan Native or American Indian

*the child must be uninsured, or

*the child must be underinsured (the child has insurance that does not pay for vaccines, or the child has insurance that pays only for certain vaccines, or the child has insurance that caps vaccine payments at a certain amount; in any of these cases the child is eligible only for the vaccines that the insurance does not pay for.

The following privately purchased vaccines are available to children who have private insurance:

• Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis)          45.00
• MCV4 (meningococcal)                            100.00
• Hepatitis A                                              45.00
• Polio                                                       40.00
• Dtap (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis)           45.00
• MMR (measles, mumps, rubella)               60.00
• Varicella (chickenpox)                               95.00

This year the Health Department wants to highlight the need for vaccines across all age groups. Each week in August the Health Department will be focusing on a different age group and the vaccines required or recommended for that group.

The week of August 1-8, the focus on immunizations will be for babies from birth to age 2 and also pregnant women. Any parent bringing a child up to age 2 for immunizations, or any pregnant woman coming in for her Tdap vaccine during this week will be given a complimentary goodie bag.

The goal of the health department is to educate the public about the importance of being vaccinated in order to be protected from vaccine-preventable diseases. Many of these diseases are still endemic in foreign countries, and are just a plane ride away.

For any questions about vaccines, vaccine-preventable diseases and eligibility criteria for Texas Vaccines for Children, call 325-646-0554.