By Michael Copley
Staff Writer

More doses of the H1N1 vaccine are now available and a schedule has been set to immunize children in Powhatan County Schools, school officials said.

Powhatan School Superintendent Dr. Margaret Meara told parents in a letter dated November 5 that the additional doses will arrive in stages and said the Chesterfield Health District has recommended the county administer the vaccine at first to the smallest elementary school.

“We will, however, vaccinate ‘high risk students’ first,” Meara wrote in the letter, including children with “asthma, diabetes, kidney disease, heart problems and neuromuscular disorders.”

If the vaccine runs out before all children at a school have been vaccinated, those children will be first to receive the vaccine when more of it arrives, according to the letter. 

Parents who want their children vaccinated must sign and return permission slips to the child’s school by Nov. 9.

Parents are allowed to be present when their child is vaccinated but parents are not allowed to be vaccinated during the school clinics.
A community clinic will be open Nov. 14 at Powhatan High School.

School Vaccination Schedule:
Pow. Elementary: Nov. 10
Flat Rock Elementary: Nov. 17
Poc. Elementary: Nov. 23
Poc. Middle: Dec. 1
Powhatan Junior High: Dec. 7
Powhatan High School: Dec. 15

To have your child vaccinated at Powhatan Elementary School, return the consent form to the school no later than two days after receiving it.

The vaccine is free and will be administered during the school day. The Chesterfield Health District said children nine years old and younger should get two doses of the vaccine about a month apart.

Vaccines Available
Nasal Spray- Live, Attenuated Influenza Vaccine (LAIV): approved for people from 2 through 49 years old who are not pregnant and do not have underlying health conditions.

“Flu Shot”- Inactivated, Injected into the muscle like a regular flu shot: Recommended for pregnant women, people who care for infants, anyone from age 6 months to 24 years old, anyone between 25 and 64 years old with certain chronic medical conditions. 

The Chesterfield Health District said people with a severe allergy to eggs should not get the 2009 H1N1 vaccine

The Chesterfield Health District said parents will not be able to specify which version of the vaccine their child receives. The availability of vaccine and the nurse administering it will determine which is given. Parents who want to choose should contact their health care provider. Children with underlying medical conditions will not be given the nasal spray version of the vaccine.

The Powhatan Free Clinic recently ordered 300 doses of the H1N1 vaccine from the Virginia Department of Health and the medical director of the free clinic, Dr. John Carmack, said the facility will “begin vaccinating for swine flu when these are available.”

The clinic already offered the seasonal flu vaccine, once in October and once in early November, and Carmack said the clinic is scheduled to offer seasonal flu immunization again November 19 to its patients.

“We will continue to offer seasonal influenza clinics as we move into December and January to meet the needs of our patients,” said Carmack.

Resources
Questions about vaccination clinics: 804-768-7499
Virginia Department of Health hotline: 1-877-275-8343
Powhatan Free Clinic: 804-598-5637
http://www.cdc.gov
http://www.flu.gov
http://www.vdh.virginia.gov
http://www.vdh.virginia.gov