Oklahoma City school officials hope clinics will prevent flu spread in schools
By Dawn Marks
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Published: October 24, 2009
Oklahoma City School District officials said they hope a pair of clinics today will get swine flu vaccinations to as many students as possible to help prevent the spread of the virus through the district.
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H1N1 clinics
When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today
Where: U.S. Grant High School, 5016 S Pennsylvania Ave., and Southeast High School, 5401 Shields Blvd.
Who: Pregnant women, students in prekindergarten through 12th grade, and people 6 months to 18 years old with underlying health conditions
Additional information: Students accompanied by adults who are not parents or guardians must have a permission letter reading: “I, (full name of parent), give permission for (full name of accompanying adult) to obtain the H1N1 vaccination for: (All children must be listed with full names and dates of birth).” The letter must be signed and dated with today's date.
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“We're thinking this hasn't really hit us yet,”
Superintendent Karl Springer said. “We're thankful for that and we hope it won't.”
The district and the
Oklahoma City-County Health Department will partner to give swine flu, or H1N1, vaccinations from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at U.S. Grant and Southeast high schools. The vaccinations, which are free, will only be given to pregnant women, children in prekindergarten through 12th grade and people 6 months to 18 years old with underlying health conditions.
School district health administrator
Debbie Johnson said so far the district has not had an increased number of absences due to flu-like symptoms. Tuesday, the district's attendance rate was 93.3 percent, compared to 94.2 percent at the same time a year ago. Wednesday's attendance rate was 93.9 percent, compared to 93 percent a year ago.
However, district administrators and health department officials want to have vaccination clinics across the city as vaccine becomes available, Johnson said. She said officials chose U.S. Grant and Southeast high schools for the first clinics because they are in the most densely populated areas of the city.
More doses coming
Health department officials take the virus seriously and the clinics at the schools are part of the plan to deal with the virus, said
Gary Cox, health department director.
“It seems to be on the uptick in
Oklahoma and we're watching it closely here in
Oklahoma County,” Cox said.
Later, health department officials will vaccinate students at schools with high numbers of absences, said
Phil Maytubby, emergency response coordinator for the health department.
To date, the health department has received 21,000 doses of the vaccine and has 11,800 left, Cox said.
Maytubby said he didn't think all the remaining doses would be given at today's clinics because there wouldn't be enough time, but the remainder likely would be used by the middle of next week.
The health department is set to receive another 7,000 doses next week and most of those will go to private medical providers, Maytubby said.
Related Topics:
Health and Fitness,
Medicine,
Politics,
Education,
Elementary and High School Education,
Contagious and Infectious Diseases,
Vaccines,
Medical Treatments and Procedures,
High School Education,
Influenza,
Local Politics,
Swine Flu
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