Tagged: Vermont Health Department

The Vermont Health Department was dispensing free vaccines Wednesday at clinics around the state to prevent the spread of whooping cough,  which has reached epidemic numbers in Vermont.

Vermont officials are trying to prevent any more highway fatalities this year by urging drivers to slow down, buckle up and not drive drunk or drug-impaired this holiday season.

Officials say Vermont has seen a spike in fatal crashes over last year — with 75 to date, compared to 51 last year.

Vermont health officials are urging adults to get a new vaccine for whooping cough as the state deals with an outbreak of the disease.

More than 500 people have been affected by whooping cough or pertussis this year. That's 10 times the amount reported by the end of 2011.

More than 20 babies younger than a year have had the disease and six infants have had to be hospitalized.

Vermont Health Department officials have rewritten rules designed to implement a new law on childhood immunizations, but some parents aren't satisfied with how those changes are being made.

An earlier draft of the rules said when parents want to exempt their child from vaccinations they need to sign a form implying they agree with the Health Department's assessment of the vaccines' risks and benefits. Parents who have expressed skepticism about vaccines say that's compelled speech, and that it violates the First Amendment.