Departments
of Health and Education Team Up to Offer H1N1 Vaccines
at Schools
Posted by Eunice Bedminster
on November 25, 2009 at 12:25 PM AST
Health Commissioner Julia Sheen and Education Commissioner Dr. LaVerne Terry
announced today that beginning next week, free H1N1 vaccines will be offered to students in the Territory.
The vaccine will be administered to students in primary grades at public schools territorywide beginning November 30, 2009, as the H1N1 virus has proven to affect young and school age children.
Sheen said that a schedule for private and parochial schools will be released later and that the initial scheduling for public school students was based on the incidence of Influenza-Like-Illness (ILI) reported at each school and the number of parental forms received for a particular
school:
"Vaccination is the best protection against the H1N1 virus and that the Health Department recommends that children get
vaccinated. The H1N1 vaccine is similar to seasonal flu vaccines which have a very good safety track record and safety is paramount for the CDC which works with health departments nationwide, to ensure that all who fall into a priority group get
vaccinated."
Dr. Terry said that some parents of public school students still have not returned the required consent forms that were sent home with students last month and is urging them to do so.
Parents who do not have the consent forms can accompany their children on the date that school-based vaccinations are scheduled at a particular school. A physician and a team of nurses will be administering vaccines from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on those days.
For more information, parents can contact (340) 773-1311, Ext. 3280 or 3240.
The initial schedule for school-based vaccination is as follows:
SCHOOL-BASED VACCINATION SCHEDULE
| Date |
St. Croix |
St. Thomas |
St.
John |
| 11/30/09 |
Alexander Henderson |
Lockhart |
|
| 12/01/09 |
Juanita Gardine |
Ulla Muller |
|
| 12/02/09 |
Claude O. Markoe |
Yvonne
Bowsky |
|
| 12/03/09 |
Eulalie Rivera |
Gladys Abraham |
|
| 12/04/09 |
Arthur Richards Jr. High |
E. Benjamin Oliver |
|
| 12/07/09 |
Ricardo Richards |
Joseph Sibilly |
Guy Benjamin |
| 12/08/09 |
Pearl B. Larsen |
Evelyn Marcelli |
Julius Sprauve |
| 12/09/09 |
Lew Muckle |
Joseph Gomez |
|
| 12/10/09 |
Alfredo Andrews |
Jane E. Tuitt |
|
| 12/11/09 |
Charles H. Emanuel |
Leonard Dober |
|
| 12/14/09 |
Evelyn Williams |
Addelita Cancryn
Jr. High |
|
| 12/15/09 |
Elena Christian Jr. High |
Bertha C. Boschulte Jr. High |
|
| 12/16/09 |
John
H. Woodson Jr. High |
Charlotte Amalie High |
|
| 12/17/09 |
Central High |
Eudora Kean High |
|
| 12/18/09 |
Educational Complex |
* |
|
|