BAINBRIDGE, Ohio — The Pike County General Health District teamed up with the Ross County Health District and the Highland County Health Department Saturday to offer free vaccines, including a shot against measles, at a clinic set up in the parking lot of the Bainbridge Produce Auction.
The three agencies parked their mobile outreach units at 4053 State Route 41 and offered the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine along with Tdap, flu and COVID-19 shots, Pike County General Health District said in a Facebook post. A sign posted at the clinic read “Measles Vaccine Available.”
The health district said the clinic was open to anyone regardless of insurance status, with staff on hand to help residents without coverage access the vaccines at no cost.
The outreach comes more than a week after the Pike County General Health District confirmed a laboratory-confirmed case of measles in the county, the first reported there this year, and began working to trace who may have been exposed. The health district has not released the infected person’s age, vaccination status or where exposure may have occurred.
Measles is a highly contagious virus that can spread before an infected person shows symptoms and can linger in the air for up to two hours after that person leaves a room, health officials have said. Unvaccinated people face the highest risk of infection, and about one in five unvaccinated Americans who contract measles is hospitalized. Symptoms typically include a high fever, cough and watery eyes, followed three to five days later by a rash, with onset generally seven to 14 days after exposure.
The MMR vaccine is routinely recommended starting at 12 to 15 months of age, with a booster dose typically given before kindergarten. Health officials say the shot remains the best protection against the virus.
Saturday’s joint clinic follows similar outreach in neighboring Highland County, where the health department added the MMR vaccine to a drive-thru flu and COVID-19 clinic earlier this month and has another drive-thru clinic offering the shot scheduled for Oct. 28 at the Paint Creek Joint EMS & Fire District station in Hillsboro.
Residents with questions about vaccination can contact the Pike County General Health District at 740-947-7721, the Ross County Health District at 740-779-9652 or the Highland County Health Department at 937-393-1941.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Pike County General Health District, the Ross County Health District and the Highland County Health Department.
