Utah County health officials plan community immunization clinics

The Utah County Health Department has planned a series of community immunization clinics for Payson and Provo.

Clinic nurses will administer vaccines for both youth and adults including those for chicken pox, measles and pertussis, also known as whooping cough. A list of the immunizations recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is available on the health department's web site.

Utah had more than 1,500 reported cases of pertussis in 2012, according to data from the state health department's weekly whooping cough report. As of March 30, 93 cases have been reported — far less than the 259 cases that had been reported for the same period last year.

The Payson clinic is scheduled for April 9 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Payson City Center, 439 W. Utah Ave.

On April 12, the Provo clinic will be held at Edgemont Elementary School, 566 E. 3560 North, between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Daily clinics are also being held in American Fork and Provo. A schedule for those clinic times and locations are also available at www.UtahCountyHealth.org/immunizations.

Discounted vaccines are available to qualifying families through the Vaccine for Children program. The health department also accepts a variety of health insurance programs.

Jennifer Dobner