Summit County’s three school districts and the Summit County Health Department began collaborating over the summer to prepare for and try to prevent local measles outbreaks.
With the health department, Park City schools hosted a measles vaccine clinic along with five flu and COVID-19 clinics.
Park City School District Superintendent Lyndsay Huntsman said, in total, the clinics helped protect almost 300 locals.
Flu vaccines: 69 children and 108 adults
COVID-19 vaccines: 30 children and 65 adults
Measles vaccines: three children
“This is really an effort to keep our kids in school. We want them safe. We want them healthy. And if they're not healthy, then they can't come to school,” Huntsman said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Thursday.
Health Department Director Phil Bondurant told the Park City School District Board of Education Tuesday the time it takes to get vaccinated is much less than a doctor’s visit or days home sick from school.
“You can't even get your kids out of the car into the doctor's office in 7.5 minutes, but we can get an entire family [vaccinated] in 7.5 minutes,” Bondurant said.
Summit County spokesperson Derek Siddoway said the most successful clinic vaccinated more than 100 people during Trailside Elementary’s parent-teacher conferences.
He said the clinics were about more than vaccines; they were to educate the community as well.
“It was an opportunity to talk directly to families that were scared and provide information,” Siddoway said. “We'd love just to increase that accessibility, that availability, making sure that we're hearing what barriers families, staff, students might be having.”
Siddoway said this helps the health department improve and fine-tune its offerings and programs to best serve local needs.
