Iowa’s school kids will get no reprieve from the needle. A CNN report one week ago claimed there’s a nationwide shortage of several key childhood vaccines and some school districts are having to relax their policies requiring kids have all their shots. Iowa schools help the health department by telling parents they must have their children’s immunizations up to date when they start school…three sets of DPT, two of Measles, mumps and Rubella. But the education department’s Kathy Slaughter says those guidelines give lots of flexibility and no districts have reported having to change their policies because doctors can’t get vaccines. To make it easier for busy families, some county health departments will come to neighborhoods with a mobile unit or hold immunization days at a local health department. And another part of the solution has been Iowa’s requirement for some shots for kids attending daycare. By the time they begin school, the kids are already up to date.
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