BRADENTON — The Manatee County Health Department this afternoon announced the first seven public school clinics to provide H1N1 immunizations to elementary students beginning Friday.
They are as follows: Anna Maria Elementary, Friday; Blackburn Elementary, Nov. 9; Bayshore Elementary, Nov. 10; Freedom Elementary, Nov. 12; Braden River Elementary, Nov. 13; Kinnan Elementary Nov. 16; and Tillman Elementary, Nov. 17.
Clinic hours for all seven sites are 3:30-7 p.m. according to information from the health department and Manatee County School District.
At the clinics, health department staff will provide the vaccines to enrolled students whose parents or guardians are present with signed consent forms.
Parents who want their children to receive the vaccine will be required to return the consent forms to their school within three days of receiving it. Parents who do not wish to have their children vaccinated can simply not return the consent form.
A parental consent form and information packet is being distributed to all Manatee County students this week.
The packets contain the consent form and vaccine information sheets that explain the risks and contradictions associated with any immunization.
“We are targeting our elementary students first as they have been identified as more at risk than middle and high school age students, as indicated in Manatee County’s laboratory syndromic surveillance data,” said Dr. Jennifer Bencie, health department administrator. ”We expect to have all of the public elementary school clinics scheduled between now and the December holidays.”
Parents are urged to read all of the information in the packet and consult their primary care provider if they have questions concerning the H1N1 flu vaccine. Many parents may also opt to have their child vaccinated at their physician’s office.
Children under the age of 10 years are required to receive a second dose of the vaccine. A second clinic will be held at those children’s school after 21 to 28 days.
Bencie said the department will release another schedule of clinic sites and dates by mid November based on the availability of the vaccine.
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