Back to School Vaccine Drive 2023
SBCHC hosts Annual Back to School Vaccine Drive at West Houston Clinic
On Saturday August 5, Spring Branch Community Health Center hosted our Annual Back-to-School Vaccine Drive (BTSVD) for children ages 5-18, with an all-day immunization event at our West Houston Community Health Center. In receiving protection against preventable diseases such as diphtheria, measles, mumps, polio, and whooping cough (among many others), the children were equipped to start the school year by satisfying the vaccination requirement of school districts to attend classes.
Children who were immunized also received a new backpack filled with school supplies to help them start the school year right. SBCHC staff and volunteers greeted families and checked vaccination records to determine which shots each child needed, professionally and caringly administered the immunizations, monitored the youngsters to ensure they felt alright afterwards, and provided some fun in the form of games, treats, and books.
MD Anderson Cancer Center was on hand with the “Too Cool to Smoke” Puppet Show to entertain the kids, and to provide important educational information about the dangers of smoking in a fun, interactive, and non-threatening manner.
SBCHC was able to offer free vaccines to children who have Medicaid or CHIP insurance coverage or who are uninsured via our participation in the Vaccines for Children program. It was a great event with 309 vaccines given to 101 children during the three hour event. As they get ready to go back to school, the youngsters are prepared to stay healthy and are equipped with the tools they need to succeed. To comply with state standards, SBCHC staff entered a record of these immunizations in the State of Texas’ Immtrac2 registry system.
“We are very excited to once again give area children the opportunity to start the school year prepared with immunizations to protect against deadly diseases and with the school supplies they need to excel in their classes,” says SBCHC CEO, Marlen J. Trujillo, PhD. “We are happy to provide these resources and all of our services to families with children in this area who face tremendous barriers to health, wellness and overall success.”
The Texas Medical Association (TMA) generously sponsored the vaccine drive through their Vaccines Defend What Matters (VDWM) initiative. TMA developed and launched VDWM as a public health education and advocacy effort to overcome vaccine hesitancy and increase vaccination rates in Texas. For seven years, TMA has supported SBCHC to help put on our neighborhood-wide back-to-school events. For more information, please visit https://www.texmed.org/DefendWhatMatters.