Rutgers School of Nursing stresses need to vaccinate kids now
Newark, N.J. – In this season of giving, Rutgers brought happiness to a community of Newark youngsters in an effort to make sure they are appropriately vaccinated against all childhood illnesses.
Beginning last Friday and continuing through today, the Jordan and Harris Community Health Center at Rutgers School of Nursing has provided flu shots and collected youngsters’ immunization records at the three sites where Jordan and Harris regularly provides health services for families – Hyatt Court, Pennington Court and Terrell Homes public housing facilities. In return for providing immunization records – or identification to facilitate obtaining the records if parents can’t locate their copies – the children received a teddy bear and a book and visited with Santa.
Skyla Nieves, 4 (left), and sister Mariya Nieves, 8, visit with Santa at Rutgers School of Nursing's Jordan and Harris Community Health Center at the Newark Terrell Homes development. Rutgers and FP Youth Outcry partnered to encourage parents to keep their children properly vaccinated.
“We want to see how many youngsters need the various childhood vaccinations so that we can follow up after Christmas and administer the vaccinations,” said Cindy Sickora, associate professor and director of community programs for the School of Nursing. “It’s critically important that we vaccinate high-risk populations as soon as we can as the winter season begins and emphasize to parents the importance of staying current with vaccines.”
Jordan and Harris partnered on the project with FP Youth Outcry Foundation, a nonprofit charity organization. The organization is providing the teddy bear gifts it received from a donor.
After Christmas, the Jordan and Harris Health Center and the School of Nursing’s mobile van will review the records and administer the appropriate vaccinations for any of the childhood illness, including measles, meningitis and chickenpox.