This city
offers many resources for protecting your child’s health – from information on
how to access a free flu vaccine to information on how to prevent childhood
obesity. Last summer, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum traveled the five
boroughs with the Child Healthcare Network, promoting healthy habits for
kids and offering free screenings.
For New
Yorkers who do not have health insurance, including those who are undocumented
immigrants, primary health care is available at public Child and Family
Health Clinics and Community Health Centers. At these clinics,
"medical providers are not allowed to turn you away if you cannot pay for
care or because of your immigration status." Payment, if any, is on a
sliding scale and is determined by family size and income. You may pay
absolutely nothing. If you qualify, staffers at these centers and clinics
also will help you apply for public health insurance. View the website for a
list of centers in the five boroughs.
Does your child need
an immunization? The city
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) provides walk-in
immunization clinics that will give your child the immunizations he or she
needs to attend public school. Find more information and to view a
list of the walk-in clinics. (Note: Travel immunizations are not provided at DOHMH immunization clinics.)
The city Department of Education provides information about immunizations required for
public school students in multiple languages, as well as a schedule of
immunizations for pre-schoolers. Also, when your child receives an
immunization, a report is sent to the Citywide Immunization Registry. For a
free copy of your child's immunization record, call 311.
More information:
- Consult the immunizations page
of NOAH, the New York Online Access to Health for more information.
Links on children’s immunizations are available in both English and
Spanish on this site.
- Also view the Parents' Guide to
Childhood Immunizations published by the federal Centers for Disease Prevention and Control fore more resources.
- Call my office at 212-669-7250
if you have more questions about how to improve your child’s health.
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