HOLMES BEACH — Amanda Karge said she was scared to be the first Anna Maria Elementary student to receive the H1N1 immunization at her school Friday.
But after a Manatee County Health Department worker gently put the nasal mist into her nostrils, she appeared relieved and said it didn’t hurt at all.
“It tasted bad,” she said, as her mother Betty Griffith patted her knee.
Amanda and 64 classmates from the school of nearly 290 students opted for the immunization Friday.
The school, at 4700 Gulf Drive, was the first of seven Manatee County School District elementary schools to distribute the vaccine.
The clinic was operated by the health department. Before students received an immunization, about 25 of the school’s 46 staff members — including Amanda’s mother, a cafeteria worker — received it.
Tyler Yavalar, 10, stood in line with his father, waiting his turn.
“I didn’t want to get the swine flu and one day possibly die,” the fourth-grader said.
In front of them stood third-grader Genevieve Kemper with her stepfather, Roland Pena, who is retired from the military.
“I’ve been to many different countries and seen a bunch of different diseases,” he said. “We have to prevent diseases in the future, that’s how I look at it.”
Both the shot and nasal mist forms of the vaccine are being given to students, according to the health department and the school district.
Health department staff will provide the vaccines to students whose parents or guardians are in attendance with signed consent forms. When middle- and high-school clinics are scheduled later, those students will not be required to have parents present.
Other clinics scheduled are:
n Blackburn Elementary on Monday
n Bayshore Elementary on Tuesday
n Freedom Elementary on Thursday
n Braden River Elementary on Friday
n Kinnan Elementary, Nov. 16
n Tillman Elementary, Nov. 17
An eight-page information packet is being distributed to all Manatee County students. It contains the consent form and vaccine information sheets that explain the risks and contradictions associated with any immunization.
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 form.
Health department officials say they will release another schedule of clinic sites and dates by mid-November based on the availability of the vaccine.
As locations are set, the remaining information packets will be sent home. In addition, a message from each school’s principal will be sent.
Natalie Alund, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7095.
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