Story posted Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Apollo, Stevenson Students To Receive H1N1 Shots Next Week
Students attending Stevenson and Apollo elementary schools in East Maine School Dist. 63 are returning consent forms to receive the H1N1 flu vaccine from the Cook County Dept. of Public Health (CCDPH).
Vaccinations will be given at Apollo on Monday, Nov. 30 and at Stevenson on Tuesday, Dec. 1. Both schools are located in unincorporated Maine Township.
CCDPH is administering vaccines using a list of schools determined by zip codes. Dates for other Dist. 63 schools have not been scheduled.
Apollo has 535 students eligible for the vaccination. Stevenson has 446 students eligible for the vaccination.
District Nurse Robin Olson said CCDPH personnel, not school staff, would administer vaccines.
The vaccination is available in two forms, the nasal spray made with live, weakened flu virus and the injected shot made with an inactivated (killed) vaccine.
Olson said CCDPH would determine which type of vaccine is administered to each student as indicated on the consent forms and on file with the nurse.
Children with chronic health conditions such as asthma would not receive the spray containing the weakened live virus.
The latest update issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday, Oct. 7 said both the spray and injection require a follow up dose for children nine-years-old and younger with a second dose.
Parents have to agree to seek that second dose within 21 to 28 days of the first dose, said Olson.
She said the shots would be administered through the course of the day, one classroom at a time, the same way class photos or hearing and vision screenings are done, and said parents are welcome to come to the school to be with their child while they receive the vaccine.
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