Parents recognizing importance of kids vaccination, Linn County hosts vaccination clinics

Linn County, Iowa – Parents are becoming more aware of the need of having their children vaccinated prior to the start of the school year. Following the announcement of the mask recommendation, several kids in the region were vaccinated.

On Tuesday, the Linn County Public Health Department held a vaccination clinic. The vaccination was available to anybody, but health officials anticipated that more children aged 12 to 18 would take advantage of it.

As the start of the school year approaches, parents are afraid that their children may be infected with the virus or one of its variations. Linn County Public Health reports that cases in that age range are increasing. While younger people are less likely to have severe symptoms, they may pass it on to older, higher-risk individuals.

“They can bring it home to family members, they can take it to others in the community. So it’s really important that we all work together to all get vaccinated to help stop this COVID-19 and the variants that come about in its track,” said Heather Meador, with Linn County Public Health.

One parent expressed his desire to get his daughter vaccinated as soon as possible.

“The numbers show that she’s a lot safer if she has the vaccine than if she doesn’t, but I think in a bigger way we’re looking at this as a communal thing. The only way we’re going to beat this is if everybody goes and gets it, so it’s more a bigger picture thing of being part of the solution and everybody needs to be part of the solution,” said Joe Nelson.

More vaccination clinics will be held at Cedar Rapids schools, according to Linn County Public Health. They see these buildings as places where young people can already feel comfortable at.