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Westchester, Explained 34: What Westchester Families Should Know about the Importance of Vaccines · This Week in Westchester: The Podcast

• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Hi Westchester.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Westchester County Government Communications Director Katherine Chaffee.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: And as an extension of This Week in Westchester, the podcast, we welcome you to Westchester Explained.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: In this episode, we sit down with Westchester County Health Immunization Action Program Coordinator Leslie Lipator for a deep dive into childhood vaccines, what's important for parents to know, and the work being done right here in Westchester to protect children, families, and our communities from preventable diseases.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: We also discuss common questions and concerns surrounding vaccines, school requirements, and the resurgence of diseases like measles and what the county's doing to make immunizations accessible.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Join us as we explore the science behind childhood vaccinations and the resources available to residents and how protecting our children helps protect our entire community.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, why it matters to Westchester residents, because this is Westchester Explained.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: So let's begin.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: So in the podcast studio today, we are talking about something that we've all experienced.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: We've all, every single person listening has experienced this.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: And it is childhood vaccines.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: We've all, if we've gone to public school, we have been vaccinated.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: So here with us today, we have someone who's been working in this space for a very long time.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Please introduce yourself.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, my name is Leslie Libertour.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: I'm the Health Services Coordinator for Westchester County Department of Health Immunization Action Program and also the Childhood Led Poisoning Prevention Program.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: I did practice pediatrics as a nurse practitioner for 14 years, and I have about 30 years of pediatric nursing experience.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so you've been dealing with kids getting vaccinated for a very long time.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: For a very long time.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: So let's let's start from the beginning, right?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Literally, the beginning.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: A child is born and they start getting vaccinated in the hospital.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: They should.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: We do recommend very strongly the birth dose of hepatitis B.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: So hepatitis B is a virus that can be transmitted from a mom who's positive to a baby.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: There's about a 90% trans transmission rate if a baby is not vaccinated.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: So in addition to the first dose of the vaccine, they get hepatitis B immunoglobulin, which gives them immediate protection from hepatitis B from the mom until the vaccine kicks in.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: And then it gets followed by two more vaccines throughout their infancy.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then they they keep growing, they keep trucking along, and then they get to school age.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And now I guess it's UPK age, about four, between four and five years old.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: What are those vaccines that are required?
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: So for pre-K and daycare, there's a couple more that are required than there are actually for school.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: HIB, which is Haemophilus influenza B, which causes meningitis.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: They get two of those, uh, three of those in their first year of life, and then one between a year and four years, generally in the second year of life.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: Then there's Prevnor, which is pneumococcal vaccine, which prevents against ear infections, sinus infections, pneumonia, again, three in their first year of life, and one usually in the second year of life.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: Then we move into the school age.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the big one is um DTAP, which is diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: Diphtheria is um an infection of the nose and throat.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: It can be very serious.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: Tetanus, of course, can affect the brain and nerves.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: And then pertussis or whooping cough is a bacterial infection that causes a prolonged painful cough.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's very contagious.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they also call it the hundred-day cough because it can last for a hundred days.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: So then we move on to polio, which and that's required for kindergarten.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: That is required for kindergarten, yes.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: And polio is required for kindergarten and also daycare.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: All of these are inclusive of um the daycares and pre-K.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um polio, which we know is a virus that is almost completely gone.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: Thank God.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: So if we continue to have herd immunity, it's great.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that can affect the um brain and spinal cord.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, hepatitis A and B vaccines.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: Hepatitis A is not required for school, however, it's recommended.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: Hepatitis B, the full three vaccine series, is.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: And for those children that are born to the moms that are positive, they are required to have post-vaccine serology testing to make sure that they've had an immune response to this.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then MMR, measles, monks, and rubella.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: We hear about that one a lot.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: We hear about that a lot.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: There's a big um resurgence of measles.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um that is two vaccines that are required.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: One at over a year, and the next one has to be at least 28 days after the first one, but is recommended at age four.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: And it is needed for school.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if a child is traveling, especially to an outbreak area and they're under a year, they're between six months and a year, we do recommend that they get an extra vaccine.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that one does not count toward the series.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: They would still need to get another one when they're older.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: And then varicello, which is chicken pox.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, another one that there's a little bit of hesitancy to.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, a lot of people say, What's what's the harm in chicken pox?
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right, she's like, it can kill you.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: That's like harm, right?
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, it can cause serious, I mean cause secondary skin infections.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: If pregnant women get it, it can be very dangerous.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: The older you are, the more dangerous it becomes, and it can cause inflammation of the brain.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: So it is still serious, in addition to the amount of time that parents miss from work, children miss from school due to Fair Salad.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: So mening vaccine, another kind of controversial one right now.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it is required for um seventh grade, and then they need another dose at age 16.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it does a meningitis can cause an inflammation of the brain.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: And it can it can be devastating the consequences.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's, you know, are is that everything you want to hit so far?
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: Or should at least talk about HPV because I think it's important.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Talk about it, and then I want to jump into this.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, for sure, talk about it.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: So HPV vaccine, um, human papillomavirus, it is not a required vaccine.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: However, I I think it's one of the most important vaccines that have come out.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: Prevents cancer.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: It prevents cancer.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: And it there's a hundred percent likelihood that people will be exposed in their lifetime.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: So the younger kids get it, the more robust their their immune response is to it.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: And it prevents cancers of the cervix, penis, anus, and mouth and throat cancers.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: So it really is important to get that vaccine.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, for somebody listening, um, this can seem like quite a long list of vaccinations.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: But something that I think is so interesting about these names as you're running through them, and obviously I have been vaccinated, and my children have been vaccinated.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: I am not, I am familiar with these, but these are also the names of viruses and diseases that I don't know because they're not around anymore.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Why is getting vaccinated so important?
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: So the more people that are vaccinated, we we get what we call herd or community.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's okay, say it again.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: I know it's a lot.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um so, and the more people that are vaccinated, that becomes a higher incidence.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: So for viruses like the measles that are so contagious, you need about 95% of the community to be immunized in order to get herd immunity.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: Other viruses that may not be, or bacterial infections that are not as contagious, you may not need as high a number to gain herd immunity, but it still increases the chance that people get sick the less people are vaccinated.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so something I think is so interesting about herd immunity is that of course you want to get vaccinated because you yourself do not want to get sick.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: But there are also people in the community that for whatever reason, whether it be cancer treatment, various other serious issues, cannot be vaccinated.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: And this is sort of like something we do for the greater good of society, right?
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: It is.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: And and those people don't walk around with a big sign on them saying, I have cancer, I can't be immunized.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: So we don't know who those people are.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: You don't know who you're sitting next to on a bus or standing next to in a store.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, infants that have not yet been vaccinated or have their full series are at greater risk for getting these vaccine preventable diseases.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: And infants still die from some of these vaccine preventable diseases.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: So that's something that I think that people also forget is that they think, oh, it's just a vaccine, like getting the chicken box.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: I had it, no big deal.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it was no big deal for you, but it could be a very big deal to a small baby.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: Of course.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, one of the newer vaccines that out is out is the RSV vaccine, respiratory cinchial virus um vaccine.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: So moms get it during pregnancy between 32 and 36 weeks.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: If they don't get it, then baby gets it within their first um RSV season.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, personally, I've seen very young babies struggle to breathe with RSV, and there is no real treatment for it.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's really supportive care.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: This vaccine has seen, or the monoclonal antibodies, which is what the baby would get, has has shown such great results in the first few seasons.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: I believe the first season it was out, it prevented 77% of hospitalization and otherwise healthy babies.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: So even healthy babies get this, not just babies that have other other health problems.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: The RSV one is fascinating to me because um I had twins in 2011.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: At that time, the RSV vaccine was not widely um given.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: And only one of my children qualified for it because he was under uh five pounds.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: So he was able to get it through the insurance company.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: And my other twin, who was five pounds, five ounces, could not get it.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember trying to fight it, and you know, we were so worried about this.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: And now come to today, they all get it, which is really remarkable.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: It is remarkable.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember administering that vaccine and it was painful, and they had to come back every month for it during that season, and if they qualified for the second season.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: So it was not without, you know, a lot of visits to the doctor and a lot of tears from infants.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: Right, a lot of tears from infants, but also like as a as a mother, you know, uh, for me at the time who had two premature children, and you were just so fearful of what they could be exposed to.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: It was, it was, I was so grateful that at least one child qualified to get that vaccine at that time.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: So it's uh it's an interesting one.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: What, you know, unfortunately, um, and and I'm gonna highlight that.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, vaccine, vaccines, vaccinations have become this like political talking point, which is insane.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just going to say it.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I am not a doctor.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: You are a medical professional.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: I will always trust a medical professional's judgment because you have gone to school for this.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um what do you say to people who are fearful of getting vaccinated, are fearful of giving their children vaccines?
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: What do you say to them?
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: I tell them that their most trusted partner in their child's health care is their physician.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: So, and while this has become a hot button political issue, the doctor's offices that I've visited, and my team and I have visited over a hundred in the past two months in Westchester County talking about vaccines and what's required for school and the entrance requirements for attendance and to keep a child in school.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: Most of them do not accept people who won't vaccinate.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: They will let them alter their schedule a little bit if they need to.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: If they want to come back every week and get a different vaccine, they can do that.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: But most of the providers in this county are not buying into this vaccine hesitancy or not vaccinating at all.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: So trust your pediatrician, trust your healthcare provider.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: Don't read blogs.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: What watch what source you're getting your information from because a lot of, especially young parents, when you ask them, well, where did you get that information?
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I read it on a blog.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: Well, blogs are not scientific information, and there is science behind vaccines.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of science.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of science.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: A lot, a lot of science.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: I know that is what I that is what I generally tell people.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I get it, you're a young parent and you're fearful and you want to make the right decision, but we are not doctors.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: You have a question about PR, I can answer it, but I cannot answer medical questions.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: So, and New York State and Westchester County are still following the old schedules for um requirements for school entrance and attendance.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, we have not changed.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: We have not changed.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: So now they call it the AAT recommendations, which are endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which is a not political group, which is not a political group, and over 10 other medical organizations.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: They are still sticking with the old, if you will, ACIP and CDC schedule.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: So now what happens if you're a parent here in Westchester and you've got a five-year-old and they're fully vaccinated and they're going to school and everything's fine, and you travel to a place that doesn't require the same vaccinations?
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like, should be should you do anything differently?
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: Should you be worried?
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Should you wear a mask?
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, for the regular childhood vaccines, if they're fully vaccinated, they should be as protective as anybody else that is vaccinated.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: I guess before that, then before that, um, I would just check to see if there's any outbreaks in that area.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like I said before with the measles.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: If a child's under a year and you're traveling to somewhere where measles is really on the rise, I'd give that extra vaccine just to protect them for that short amount of time.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: But regular, uh regularly vaccinated children should be okay.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: I always recommend checking the CDC website for travel vaccine recommendations.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's a smart idea.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: There are places where there's yellow fever, where there's malaria, where you should get rabies vaccines.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: If you're going to be out in the jungle somewhere going on a safari, there's different vaccines that are recommended for different travel areas.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: And there's a great, there's um a place called Passport Medicine.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of people do call us looking for those kind of vaccines.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: We carry vaccines that are required, not vaccines for travel.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: So that's important to know.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: So you can check with your own physician, you can check with a travel medicine doctor, but Passport Health in Westchester does do travel vaccines.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's good to know.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so measles.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: Measles has obviously been in the news quite a bit in the past, I guess it's been a number of years now.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what are you seeing with measles?
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: So we don't have any cases in Westchester County, which is great.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um there there are quite a few cases in New York State, and we seem to get these pockets of outbreaks in it starts with people who are not vaccinated.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: So um, and in communities where it's a religious issue that there's no vaccinations, which incidentally, New York State does not accept the religious exemptions anymore for vaccines since 2019 for public schools.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: Correct.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: So in these communities, it just needs one person to leave that area for it to be transmitted.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a highly contagious disease.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: And it can be deadly?
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, absolutely.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it can cause breathing problems, it can cause swelling of the brain.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: It it really can be a devastating illness.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: That's sometimes what I think people need to hear is what could happen if you get it.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um because we don't talk, we don't talk about it because for the most part, these diseases do not exist anymore.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: So in these communities where there are these outbreaks, they're they still they don't seek medical care unless it's really emergent, right?
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: Now their child's very sick and they need to go to a hospital, which then exposes everybody in the hospital in the emergency room to measles.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um but they they try to wait it out and think that they're getting their own natural immunity without thinking about the consequences of what it can do to their child and other children.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so once you have measles, are you then immune?
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yes, you should be.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_01: You should be.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, one dose of measles should give you about 75% immunity, I believe.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: One shot.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: One shot.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: But if you have two.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: So a series of two should be 97% immunity.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: Some people never respond if they went and had their titers drawn, but there's no um recommendations if you don't respond after two vaccines to get any more.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oh you've had the vaccine.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: There's no, some people get four or five and they just never mount titers, they're probably immune.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's interesting.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's interesting.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: But they're just the way their body is that they don't show.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's very interesting.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what are some other I mean, we hear about measles now.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: Any other sort of illnesses that are popping up because of the lack of vaccines?
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: Every year around this time, we see outbreaks of protussis, which is whooping cough, again, the hundred-day cough.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, very easily treatable with zithermax, but not um.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um but it's it has to take its course.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: So and it is very contagious as well.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: So that's another one that I remember because um when I had these premature children that are now, you know, almost 16 years old in the hospital.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: They I don't remember, it felt like they didn't want us to leave without getting a uh vaccine.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: For my husband and I to get vaccinated again for Winkov.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: So now every pregnancy, moms get it.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: But this was after they were, they were, so they were premature, and for us to take them home, they were like, you need to get this vaccine.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, they were probably born before you would have gotten it from years.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: So now they recommend it for every pregnancy, and the dads will get it if they haven't had it within 10 years.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: So a tetanus vaccine or a TDAP, which contains the protussis, is good for 10 years.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: Unless you have a dirty injury, like step on a nail, get cut by something that's rusty, after five years, you should get it repeated.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: Because protussis immunity, they used to use whole cell protussis, which lasted a lot longer, but people really got um not feeling well after that vaccine.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: So we've gone to acellular protussis, which um the immunity doesn't last as long.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: So that's why it's recommended every with the tetanus every 10 years.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: So for you and your work in the Department of Public Health, because you're a county employee.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: We should highlight that you are a county employee, you work for Westchester County government in the Department of Public Health, and your your life's work is all around keeping the public healthy.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, can you talk a little bit about this calling and how this is probably you know, among all the work that Westchester County does, this is up there, is one of the most important things.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: So, I mean, as I said earlier, most of my career has been with pediatrics, so it is all about keeping children safe.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and at the county, we have a multifaceted approach to vaccines.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: So there's one aspect is we do a lot of community outreach.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: We go to events all over the county, we give out our information um on immunizations, we make things as parent-friendly as it can be, so it's not a lot of technical terms.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um we let them know where they can get vaccinated at our clinics, which we have two clinics in White Plains and Yonkers.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: We're opening a new one in Yonkers, so that's kind of in a transition right now.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: But um, there's two programs through New York State: VFA, which is vaccines for adults, and VFC, which is vaccines for children, um, which are vaccines available for people who are underinsured or uninsured, or even if they have Medicaid and it doesn't cover immunizations, they are they are eligible for vaccines.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_01: So, and the Vaccines for Children program actually is a federally funded program, but it ensures that every child in this county that's under 18 years or under can get any vaccine that they need.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: Good, with an exception of travel vaccines.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: So anyone can call 914-995-5800 to ask about eligibility and to schedule an appointment.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um then this is where my program comes in: it's the immunization action program, which we're a team of nurses.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: We work with physicians, primarily pediatricians throughout the county to improve vaccination rates.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: So it's through a CDC supported grant, which is called IQP or immunization quality improvement for providers.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we work with these participating medical practices to improve to identify and improve ways that they can increase their vaccinations.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: So, again, this past summer, my team visited over 100 offices just to reiterate what vaccines we need for school and to make sure if they have any questions going into flu season, which is another vaccine that we recommend for every child six months and older.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um and of course, COVID vaccines.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of a decision.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: They say six months, six to twenty-three months, children should get it in circum certain circumstances.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: However, um, between two and twelve, there really is, if there's an underlying medical problem.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: So um so we've changed from the way it was where everybody got it.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: Correct.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: So, well, and these strains, just like the flu vaccine, the strain changes every year.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: COVID, you know, these are rapidly changing vaccines.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: Whether they weaken, whether they weaken or or they strengthen, you know, there's so many variants and and mutations, that's why it's important to get the the newest vaccines.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, terrific.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I can't thank you enough for the work that you do.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm trying to sit here trying to think like how many lives have been saved because of your work.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I hope a lot.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure a lot.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure a lot.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so thank you so much for what you do.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: And again, if people want to reach out and get more information about um vaccinations or where they can get vaccinated, where they can get their kids vaccinated.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: Can you give the number one more time for the Sure.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: The vaccine clinics are 914-995-5800.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: If you're a provider, a daycare, a school, and you have any questions about vaccines, it's 914-995-8394.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much again for the work that you do, for the lives you've saved, and for keeping us all healthy.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you for having me.