Mobile vaccination van aims to make getting required school vaccinations easier for New Jersey families
BELMAR, N.J. (CBS) – School will be starting soon for millions of kids, meaning it's time to make sure students are up to date on the recommended vaccinations. One South Jersey community is making it easier for parents.
Four-year-old Vanya is getting ready to start Pre-K while her mom is at a mobile van getting ready for the necessary vaccinations.
"To keep our child safe, you know, healthy," Kalsoom Ghaffar, Vanya's mother, said. "Just like, you know, no disease."
The Camden County Health Department has the van in several locations, aiming to get uninsured children vaccinated for free.
"A lot of parents feel that they don't have the means to vaccinate their children, and for that reason, they fall behind," Anna Rodriguez, a nurse with the Camden County Health Department, said.
Childhood vaccinations that prevent things like measles, diphtheria, whooping cough and polio dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Health officials say they're improving, but in New Jersey, only 93% of school-age children have the recommended vaccinations, which means thousands are at risk.
"It is concerning because, like I said, these diseases still exist, and the vaccines are a way to keep them kind of at bay," Rodriguez said. "It prevents children from long-term effects of them, hospitalization and from its spreading too."
Rodriguez hopes easy access to the mobile unit will encourage more parents to get their children protected.
"It's important because we know there's a lot of barriers when it comes to getting your children to doctor's offices or different locations just to get them vaccinated," Rodrigez said.
Ghaffar says being able to walk to the mobile unit is a big advantage.
"It's getting very easy to access to everybody, like, if they're living around the area, you know? You don't need to make an appointment to the primary doctor," Ghaffar said.
School starts in just a couple of weeks and vaccinations are required for students to enter class.
The New Jersey Department of Health has all the information on the vaccination requirements for the state.