Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
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Martinsville, Virginia 24115
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Public Health Nurse Sara Thompson gives Dr. John LaFave, a pediatrician at the Children's Medical Center in Martinsville, his H1N1 vaccination at Thursday’s clinic for health care workers and EMS providers. (Contributed photo) |
Sunday, October 25, 2009
By ELIZA WINSTON - Bulletin Staff Writer
Nurses from the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) will begin administering vaccines for the novel H1N1 flu to local students this week.
While receiving the vaccination is voluntary, health officials are advising that everyone consider getting the vaccine.
The schedule for the school vaccinations will depend on how many doses are delivered by then.
More than 40,000 doses of H1N1 vaccines have been ordered for the West Piedmont Health District, said Dr. Gordon Green, director of the West Piedmont Health District which includes the city of Martinsville and the counties of Henry, Patrick and Franklin.
Of those ordered, only 2,500 doses have been received, he said, and about 1,500 have been given to health care workers and emergency service personnel.
Students have to return consent forms to get the vaccine.
In Martinsville, more than 600 consent forms have been returned, according to Vicky Utt, health coordinator for the city school system.
Forms were returned by 300 students at Albert Harris Elementary, 150 at Patrick Henry Elementary, 130 at Martinsville Middle School and 29 at Clearview.
Martinsville High School’s consent forms are still being returned, Utt said. She added that no consent form will be rejected.
Patrick County Schools Superintendent Roger Morris said the consent forms are due after each school’s information session with the health department.
The last information session, he said, will be Nov. 2. Blue Ridge Elementary and Meadows of Dan Elementary already have had their sessions, he said, and principals reported about 50 percent of the students returned consent forms.
He issued a statement Friday that vaccinations for staff and students only will be held Thursday at Blue Ridge in the morning and Meadows of Dan in the afternoon.
“We plan to send a note home next week and call houses using the Honeywell (alert) system to the affected schools. As we schedule dates for the other schools, we will notify parents in like manner,” he stated.
Depending on what shipments are like, Green said, it may take two to three weeks to serve everyone who wants a vaccination in the schools. Once that happens, he said, community vaccination clinics will be opened.
Hopefully, Green said, shipments of the vaccine will come in at least once a week or more. He said he anticipates shipments will get bigger and bigger, and he thinks everyone in the West Piedmont District who wants a vaccine will be able to get one by mid-December.
According to Robert Parker, spokesman for the VDH, it is impossible to predict with certainty how much of the H1N1 vaccine will arrive and when because the health department cannot control the amount sent by the wholesale distributors.
Green said the West Piedmont Health District orders vaccinations through the Virginia Department of Health, and it sends orders to a distribution company called McKesson Corp.
The limited number of vaccines is a manufacturing issue, Green said. Five companies are making the vaccine for the United States and other countries.
Setting up manufacturing for H1N1 vaccinations is expensive, he said. Liability issues for vaccines are complicated, and only big companies are able to make the vaccines.
More than 200 to 300 million doses have been ordered for the United States alone, Green said.
In addition to the high demand, Green said, the vaccines are complicated and time-consuming to make and have safety issues. When shipped, they have to be refrigerated at a certain temperature.
The companies making H1N1 vaccines are the same ones that had been making seasonal flu vaccine, Green said, adding that when they switched production to the H1N1 vaccine, a shortage of seasonal flu vaccine occurred.
The H1N1 vaccination is just as safe as the seasonal flu shot, he added.
In fact, Green said, the only reason there are two separate flu shots this year is because H1N1 wasn’t discovered until April. Next year, he said, the manufacturers most likely will combine the H1N1 vaccine with the seasonal flu shot.
The group at highest risk for H1N1, Green said, ranges in age from six months to 24 years.
The age of the student will determine how many shots the child will need, Parker said. Students under 10 will need two doses of the H1N1 vaccine, he said.
The vaccine should be given four weeks apart, Parker said, and the health department anticipates going back to the schools for a second time.
For children unable to participate in school-based clinics, novel H1N1 vaccines also will be available through local health departments, private physician offices and other vaccinators. The vaccine is free at all health department locations. An administration fee may be charged by other vaccinators.
For more information about seasonal flu, novel H1N1 flu, or vaccination clinics, visit www.H1N1Get1.com, www.vdh.virginia.gov, www.flu.gov, or call 1-877-ASK-VDH3 or the local health department. |
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