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Curwensville board approves vaccination clinic; date to be set
Friday, November 06, 2009
By Dianne Byers Staff Writer
CURWENSVILLE - At a brief special meeting last night, Curwensville Area School Board gave permission for the school district to plan and sponsor a mass vaccination clinic for school-aged children living in the Curwensville lArea School District.
H1N1, also known as swine flu, is a new strain of the influenza virus and like other flu viruses, including seasonal flu, spreads from person to person through coughing, sneezing and sometimes through touching objects contaminated with the virus, according to information from the Centers for Disease Control.
Sue Josephson, school nurse, said the clinic to dispense H1N1 vaccine would be held in cooperation with Clearfield Hospital, under the direction of Dr. Gregory Sheffo, pediatrician. A similar clinic is being held Saturday for students living in the Clearfield Area School District.
Vaccines would be provided at no cost by nurses from the hospital, pharmacists and nurses from the state Department of Health. Both Clearfield Hospital and the PDH would provide liability for administering the vaccine, she said, adding emergency medical services personnel and ambulances would be on site for the event of any emergencies.
School district personnel would assist with the registration, consent forms and screening process for each child participating. Parents would be required to accompany their children to the clinic.
No date has been set for the immunization clinic, but it will likely be held on a school night during the evening hours. Josephson said the clinic would take three to four hours depending on the number of children who attend.
Another clinic would also need to be scheduled to administer a second dose of vaccine to students younger than 10 so that they would have full immunity. According to information provided by the CDC, children through age 9 need two doses of the vaccine at least 21 days apart. Students who require a second dose of vaccine would be notified about the date of the second clinic, Josephson said.
Norman Hatten, superintendent of schools, said the board held the meeting last night so it would have approval in place once Clearfield Hospital is ready to set a date for the clinic.
Josephson said the state Department of Health has requested school districts sponsor clinics to dispense H1NI vaccines, and once the date has been set for Curwensville information about the clinic and H1N1 would be sent home with each of the students in the school district.
Ken Veihdeffer and Hatten commended Josephson and Clearfield Hospital for their work in setting up a clinic for Curwensville Area students. "We appreciate Clearfield Hospital's effort in reaching out to the community and immunizing our students," Hatten said.
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