Saturday health fair will kick off free back-to-school immunizations

The Southern Nevada Immunization and Health Coalition and its partners will sponsor back-to-school immunization clinics Aug. 18-25 to help families meet Nevada's immunization requirements. Back-to-school events will begin with health fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Teamsters Local 631, 700 N. Lamb Blvd.

The immunizations will be provided free on a first-come, first-served basis. Available immunizations protect against many communicable diseases, including mumps, hepatitis A and B, and Varicella (chicken pox). Children attending school in Clark County must be immunized against pertussis (whooping cough) before they can attend kindergarten and before entering seventh grade, the health coalition said in a statement.

Nevada laws require all school-age children in public and private schools to have their immunizations up to date for the school year. Parents should bring shot records for each of their children to the clinic. If a parent cannot find or does not have the necessary record, staff with Nevada WebIZ, the web-based immunization registry program, will be present to look up the child's immunization history.