COLUMBUS, Ohio – Health officials in Licking Country are holding a free vaccination clinic in Utica Friday in light of an outbreak of measles in neighboring Knox County that has sickened more than 300 people.
The Licking County Health Department will offer free MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccines to adults and children from 9:30 a.m. until noon at Utica High School, 260 North Jefferson Street.
This clinic is being held in response to the measles outbreak which has affected 314 people in nine counties since late March.
The measles virus is highly contagious and spreads so easily that people who are not protected from it will most likely get it when they are close to anyone who has it.
It is spread through the air by breathing, coughing or sneezing.
Officials say adults born after 1957 who have never had the measles or have never been vaccinated need one dose of MMR vaccine. Children need two doses.
During a community outbreak, health officials recommend that adults, who have received only one dose of MMR vaccine, get a second one.