After lower-than-expected turnouts at a series of recent clinics, the Callaway County Health Department will continue to offer the free pertussis vaccine over the next month, with hopes of carrying on past the start of the school year at the end of August.
Director Sharon Lynch said the health department will be administering the free vaccine - which inoculates against whooping cough, tetanus and dyptheria - during SERVE's Back to School Fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 10 at Fulton High School. The shots also will be available on a walk-in basis from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the health department, located at 4950 County Road 304 near Fulton.
"We're only allowed to give it out to the public through the 31st of next month," Lynch said, noting she has applied to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, which is sponsoring the free vaccines, "because that will give us through the start of school."