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Thursday, October 1, 2009 | 
News Thursday, October 1, 2009
Students at some D.C. public schools will be able to get vaccinated against swine flu this month, and inoculations for students are expected to be available citywide in November, according to a plan health officials unveiled this week.
The six-week plan begins under the assumption the vaccine for the H1N1 virus, better known as swine flu, will be available Oct. 5. If it arrives on time, it would first be distributed to health workers. For a two-week period beginning Oct. 19, it would be given to D.C. public schools that have staff nurses, for in-school vaccinations. During the final period, starting Nov. 1, the vaccine would be available to the rest of students in the D.C. school system as well as those from public charter and private schools.
During the final two-week period, high schools across the city -- Coolidge, Wilson, Cardozo, Dunbar, Eastern, Ballou and H.D. Woodson -- would serve as mass vaccination clinics for all students. Vaccinations would also be offered at some community and recreation centers in the city.
The vaccinations are voluntary, but health officials have encouraged children to get them because people from age six months to 24 years old are among the populations most vulnerable to H1N1. Vaccinations of the young have also been shown to be a key factor in stopping the wider spread of influenza.
Neighboring jurisdictions described similar plans, though all timetables depend on when the vaccine is available and in what quantity.
In Fairfax County, only public schools will be used as mass inoculation clinics, but private school students will be able to access the "All students would be eligible at the same time," Barbour said, adding that residency would not be checked, so students could theoretically come from outside the county. Barbour said that the mass clinics would likely be located at eight to 24 middle schools across the county, depending partly on the quantity of vaccine the county receives.
Plans are similar in Maryland.
Frances Phillips, deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said some private schools had opted to make their own arrangements independently of the public schools, but others were looking for help and would get it.
"Our approach is that all kids need this vaccine," she said. clinics as well, according to Glen Barbour, a spokesman for the county's health department.
The six-week plan begins under the assumption the vaccine for the H1N1 virus, better known as swine flu, will be available Oct. 5. If it arrives on time, it would first be distributed to health workers. For a two-week period beginning Oct. 19, it would be given to D.C. public schools that have staff nurses, for in-school vaccinations. During the final period, starting Nov. 1, the vaccine would be available to the rest of students in the D.C. school system as well as those from public charter and private schools.
During the final two-week period, high schools across the city -- Coolidge, Wilson, Cardozo, Dunbar, Eastern, Ballou and H.D. Woodson -- would serve as mass vaccination clinics for all students. Vaccinations would also be offered at some community and recreation centers in the city.
The vaccinations are voluntary, but health officials have encouraged children to get them because people from age six months to 24 years old are among the populations most vulnerable to H1N1. Vaccinations of the young have also been shown to be a key factor in stopping the wider spread of influenza.
Neighboring jurisdictions described similar plans, though all timetables depend on when the vaccine is available and in what quantity.
In Fairfax County, only public schools will be used as mass inoculation clinics, but private school students will be able to access the "All students would be eligible at the same time," Barbour said, adding that residency would not be checked, so students could theoretically come from outside the county. Barbour said that the mass clinics would likely be located at eight to 24 middle schools across the county, depending partly on the quantity of vaccine the county receives.
Plans are similar in Maryland.
Frances Phillips, deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said some private schools had opted to make their own arrangements independently of the public schools, but others were looking for help and would get it.
"Our approach is that all kids need this vaccine," she said. clinics as well, according to Glen Barbour, a spokesman for the county's health department.
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