{"id":18058,"date":"2026-04-20T09:44:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T13:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?page_id=18058"},"modified":"2026-04-20T09:44:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T13:44:59","slug":"rhhd-highlights-the-importance-of-infant-immunization","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/rhhd-highlights-the-importance-of-infant-immunization\/","title":{"rendered":"RHHD Highlights the Importance of Infant Immunization"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>April 20, 2026<br \/>\n<strong>Media Contact:<\/strong> Bryan Hooten, 804-807-1727, <a href=\"mailto:bryan.hooten@vdh.virginia.gov\">bryan.hooten@vdh.virginia.gov<\/a><\/p>\n<h1>RHHD Highlights the Importance of Infant Immunization<\/h1>\n<p><em>National Infant Immunization Week is April 20-27<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>RICHMOND, Va. <\/strong>\u2014 The Richmond and Henrico Health Districts (RHHD) encourage parents and guardians to make sure that children two years and younger are immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases. On-time vaccination is critical to provide protection against these potentially life-threatening diseases. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/vaccines\/php\/national-infant-immunization-week\/index.html#:~:text=National%20Infant%20Immunization%20Week%20(NIIW)%20is%20a%20yearly%20observance%20held,April%2021%2D28%2C%202025.\">National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW)<\/a> is April 20-27.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe rise of vaccine-preventable diseases in this country and in the Commonwealth of Virginia should concern us all,\u201d said Richmond and Henrico Health Districts Director Dr. Elaine Perry. \u201cOnce eliminated in the US, there have now been 17 confirmed cases of measles in Virginia in 2026. Infant and child immunization against diseases like measles gives parents and guardians powerful tools that can help protect one of our most vulnerable populations from serious illness and death.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Virginia Childhood Immunization Requirements<\/h2>\n<p>The Code of Virginia requires children entering daycare, public and private schools to give proof of vaccination before enrolling in school. These vaccines should be given based on the <a href=\"https:\/\/publications.aap.org\/redbook\/resources\/15585\/AAP-Immunization-Schedule?autologincheck=redirected\">American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) 2026 Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule<\/a>. Parents and guardians can view the Virginia childhood vaccine schedule on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/immunization\/requirements\/\">VDH website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Where to get infants immunized<\/h2>\n<p>Families without health insurance or who are enrolled in Medicaid can visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/richmond-city\/primary-care-richmond-and-henrico-health-districts\/\">rhhd.gov\/connect-pc<\/a> to find pediatric care providers. Families with private insurance may schedule appointments with their child\u2019s pediatrician, a local pharmacy, or one of RHHD\u2019s community partners. For more information, parents and guardians can visit <a href=\"http:\/\/rhhd.gov\/childhoodvax\">rhhd.gov\/childhoodvax<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>RHHD offers childhood immunization appointments at its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/richmond-city\/clinical-services\/\">Cary Street<\/a>,\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/henrico.gov\/locations\/east-health-clinic\/\">Henrico East<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/henrico.gov\/locations\/human-services\/\">Henrico West<\/a>, clinics. Parents and guardians can call 804-205-3501 to make an appointment. Bilingual-in-Spanish staff is available at all locations.<\/p>\n<p>Virginia Vaccines for Children (VVFC) providers offer free immunizations to children (younger than 19 years of age) who are uninsured or underinsured; Medicaid-eligible or Medicaid-enrolled; and\/or American Indian or Alaska Native. Families can search for a VVFC provider near them using <a href=\"https:\/\/rhhd.gov\/vfc\">rhhd.gov\/vfc<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Infant Immunization Studies<\/h2>\n<p>A 2024 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelancet.com\/journals\/lancet\/article\/PIIS0140-6736(24)00850-X\/fulltext\">study<\/a> published in The Lancet looked at the effect of the World Health Organization\u2019s (WHO) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/teams\/immunization-vaccines-and-biologicals\/essential-programme-on-immunization\">Expanded Programme on Immunization<\/a> (EPI), which was launched in 1974 to improve global access to life-saving vaccines. The study found that, since 1974, vaccination saved 154 million lives, including 146 million among children younger than 5 years, and 101 million infants younger than 1 year. Measles vaccination accounted for 93.7 million lives saved (60.8%) of the 154 million total lives saved over this 50-year period. Measles vaccination was the single greatest driver of lives saved by vaccination, across all years in every region and all <a href=\"https:\/\/datatopics.worldbank.org\/world-development-indicators\/the-world-by-income-and-region.html\">World Bank income strata<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>National Infant Immunization Week<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/vaccines\/php\/national-infant-immunization-week\/index.html#:~:text=National%20Infant%20Immunization%20Week%20(NIIW)%20is%20a%20yearly%20observance%20held,April%2021%2D28%2C%202025.\">National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW)<\/a> is a yearly observance held in April, highlighting the importance of protecting children two years and younger from vaccine-preventable diseases. The Virginia Department of Health and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommend that children stay on track with their well-child appointments and routine vaccinations.<\/p>\n<p>Follow RHHD on Instagram at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/richmondcity_hd\">@richmondcity_hd<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RichmondHenricoHealthDistricts\">Facebook<\/a>. For more health and safety information, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/rhhd.gov\/\">rhhd.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>April 20, 2026 Media Contact: Bryan Hooten, 804-807-1727, bryan.hooten@vdh.virginia.gov RHHD Highlights the Importance of Infant Immunization National Infant Immunization Week is April 20-27 RICHMOND, Va. \u2014 The Richmond and Henrico Health Districts (RHHD) encourage parents and guardians to make sure that children two years and younger are immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases. On-time vaccination is critical [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":258,"featured_media":0,"parent":16853,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[1649,919,682,912],"class_list":["post-18058","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","tag-dr-perry","tag-national-infant-immunization-week","tag-richmond-and-henrico-health-districts","tag-virginia-vaccines-for-children"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>RHHD Highlights the Importance of Infant Immunization - Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/rhhd-highlights-the-importance-of-infant-immunization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"RHHD Highlights the Importance of Infant Immunization - Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"April 20, 2026 Media Contact: Bryan Hooten, 804-807-1727, bryan.hooten@vdh.virginia.gov RHHD Highlights the Importance of Infant Immunization National Infant Immunization Week is April 20-27 RICHMOND, Va. \u2014 The Richmond and Henrico Health Districts (RHHD) encourage parents and guardians to make sure that children two years and younger are immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases. On-time vaccination is critical [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/rhhd-highlights-the-importance-of-infant-immunization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/rhhd-highlights-the-importance-of-infant-immunization\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/rhhd-highlights-the-importance-of-infant-immunization\\\/\",\"name\":\"RHHD Highlights the Importance of Infant Immunization - Newsroom\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-20T13:44:59+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/rhhd-highlights-the-importance-of-infant-immunization\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/rhhd-highlights-the-importance-of-infant-immunization\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/rhhd-highlights-the-importance-of-infant-immunization\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"2026 Regional News Releases\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/2026-regional-news-releases\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"RHHD Highlights the Importance of Infant Immunization\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"RHHD Highlights the Importance of Infant Immunization - Newsroom","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/rhhd-highlights-the-importance-of-infant-immunization\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"RHHD Highlights the Importance of Infant Immunization - Newsroom","og_description":"April 20, 2026 Media Contact: Bryan Hooten, 804-807-1727, bryan.hooten@vdh.virginia.gov RHHD Highlights the Importance of Infant Immunization National Infant Immunization Week is April 20-27 RICHMOND, Va. \u2014 The Richmond and Henrico Health Districts (RHHD) encourage parents and guardians to make sure that children two years and younger are immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases. On-time vaccination is critical [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/rhhd-highlights-the-importance-of-infant-immunization\/","og_site_name":"Newsroom","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/rhhd-highlights-the-importance-of-infant-immunization\/","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/rhhd-highlights-the-importance-of-infant-immunization\/","name":"RHHD Highlights the Importance of Infant Immunization - Newsroom","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-04-20T13:44:59+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/rhhd-highlights-the-importance-of-infant-immunization\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/rhhd-highlights-the-importance-of-infant-immunization\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/rhhd-highlights-the-importance-of-infant-immunization\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Newsroom","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"2026 Regional News Releases","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"RHHD Highlights the Importance of Infant Immunization"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/","name":"Newsroom","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/258"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18058"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18059,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18058\/revisions\/18059"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}