As Philadelphia students return to school this month, city officials and health leaders are encouraging parents to get their children vaccinated.
On Thursday, Aug. 27, at 10 a.m., the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), the Philadelphia School District and Black Doctors Consortium held an event at Benjamin Franklin High School on 550 North Broad Street.
During the event, health officials and city leaders encouraged parents to keep their children up to date on vaccinations, which is a requirement in Pennsylvania.
Dr. Ala Stanford, the founder of the Black Doctors Consortium and Center for Health Equity and former regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Mid-Atlantic, spoke at the event.
Philadelphia Department of Public Health Deputy Commissioner James Garrow, CHOP Senior Medical Director of Infection Prevention Dr. Ericka Hayes, and Dr. Kendra B. McDow, the School System Medical Officer of the Office of Student Health Services, also appeared.
The event occured days after officials announced two unvaccinated Pennsylvania residents died from the measles. Their cases are the first measle-related deaths in Pennsylvania in 35 years.