The Effingham County Health Department will be open July 22 and 29 from 8 a.m.-7 p.m. for parents to bring their children in for back-to-school immunizations. The health department is located at 802 Highway 119 South in Springfield.

Effingham County Health Department staff will be available to provide the hearing, vision, dental and nutrition screenings and immunizations required for school attendance and will provide parents with immunization certificates once the screenings and immunizations are completed.

Daycare and school-aged children are required by Georgia law to get certain immunizations before entering school. This year, the required Vision, Hearing, and Dental screening form (form 3300) for children entering a Georgia school for the first time will include a “nutrition” component. The nutrition category measures height, weight, and body mass index.

Beginning this school year, seventh graders will be required to have the tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) and meningococcal (meningitis) vaccines prior to entering school. Children born on or after Jan. 1, 2002, who are attending seventh grade and new entrants into Georgia schools in grades 8 through 12 must have received one dose of Tdap vaccine and one dose of meningococcal vaccine. (“New entrant” means any child entering any school in Georgia for the first time or entering after having been absent from a Georgia school for more than 12 months or one school year).

For a complete immunization schedule, go to www.gachd.org and click on Immunizations and Vaccinations under the Quick Links menu. Effingham County Health Department staff can help explain the schedule, what immunizations are needed and when they are needed.

For more information, call the Effingham County Health Department at 754-6484.