Parents can get their children vaccinated now before the back-to-school rush hits in August.
📅 What’s Happening: Cobb County health workers give required school shots and health screenings at four locations around the county. Parents must make appointments by calling or going online.
📍 Where To Go: The four locations are Marietta, Acworth-Kennesaw, Douglasville and Smyrna. Call 770-514-2300 with questions. Different online forms let parents book shots only, health screenings only, or both together.
🕐 The Details: Most locations stay open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Marietta offers extra evening hours on Tuesdays until 7 p.m. for busy families. Douglasville opens earliest at 7:30 a.m.
💉 Why It Matters: Vaccines protect your child and classmates from serious diseases like measles and whooping cough, which before the advent of vaccines were deadly to children.
Vaccination works against these diseases because of something called “herd immunity,” meaning most people in a community are vaccinated, making it hard for a disease to spread and protecting everyone, even those who can’t get the vaccine. However, if too many people choose not to vaccinate, the disease can spread more easily, and herd immunity breaks down, putting everyone at risk — especially babies, older people, and those with weak immune systems.
🎓 The Big Picture: Georgia requires children to have certain vaccines before starting school to prevent disease outbreaks. These same diseases once killed thousands of children each year before vaccines became common. Getting shots early helps families avoid the August rush when everyone scrambles to meet back to school deadlines.
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Before You Dismiss This Article…
We live in a time when information feels overwhelming, but here’s what hasn’t changed: facts exist whether they comfort us or not.
When A&W launched their third-pound burger to compete with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder in the 1980s, it failed spectacularly. Not because it tasted worse, but because customers thought 1/3 was smaller than 1/4. If basic math can trip us up, imagine how easily we can misread complex news.
The press isn’t against you when it reports something you don’t want to hear. Reporters are thermometers, not the fever itself. They’re telling you what verified sources are saying, not taking sides. Good reporting should challenge you — that’s literally the job.
Next time a story makes you angry, pause. Ask yourself: What evidence backs this up? Am I reacting with my brain or my gut? What would actually change my mind? And most importantly, am I assuming bias just because the story doesn’t match what I hoped to hear.
Smart readers choose verified information over their own comfort zone.
B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
