Blue Valley School District vaccine clinics underway; dates set in Olathe

The Blue Valley and Olathe school districts have announced the first dates and locations for upcoming H1N1 vaccination clinics hosted in partnership with the Johnson County Health Department.

Blue Valley will host its first vaccination clinic for children ages 6 months to 4 years old from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. today, Nov. 5, at the Blue Valley District Office, 15020 Metcalf Ave.

A second session will be held for children from 6 months to 4 years old and ages 5 to 18 years old with a high risk medical condition from 3:30 to 8:30 p.m. today, Nov. 5, at the district office.

The clinic will remain in session only as supplies last. Vaccines will be provided at the clinic on a first-come, first-served basis to Blue Valley area residents who meet the two targeted populations.

Blue Valley expects to receive about 1,000 vaccines for the first session and about 1,700 for the second from the health department. The health department requested the district focus on these priority groups first.

These first clinics will include both the injectable vaccine and Flu Mist. Those who have chronic medical conditions will be given the injectable version.

Attendees are asked to expect long lines and know there is a limited supply. It is also recommended that individuals carpool when possible because parking is limited.

In recent days the district has received several hundred inquiries seeking information about the clinic logistics and seeking medical information about the vaccine, Al Hanna, deputy superintendent of administrative services, said.

“We’re preparing that we will have plenty of people here to try and use up those vaccines,” Hanna said. “Other than that we don’t have any type of firm estimate if we will have 1,000 or 5,000 show.”

The health department has contracted with a nurse organization called Healthy Solutions to help administer the vaccine, Hanna said.

Parents or guardians will be required to sign a vaccination consent form prior to any child under the age of 18 receiving the vaccine.

The district will likely know in two days how large its next vaccine allocation will be in order to plan future clinics, Hanna said.

“Our role here is to assist the county and provide a service to our community, allowing a large number of people to receive the shot at one time,” Hanna said. “We’re glad to have the opportunity to do so because we understand it is a large undertaking.”

The Olathe School District will hold clinics for children in the early childhood programs and families enrolled in the Olathe Parents as Teachers Program. The priority groups included in this clinic are children 6 months through 4 years old including all children in the early childhood programs who have turned 5 years old since school started.

One clinic will be offered from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12 at the North Lindenwood Support Center, 315 N. Lindenwood Drive, Olathe. Another will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19 at Rolling Ridge Elementary School, 1500 W. Elm Terrace.

The district plans to eventually expand to elementary, junior high and high schools during the day. Vaccinations will require parental consent.

The Shawnee Mission School District has plans to host clinics, but dates and locations have not been scheduled.

Trackback(0)

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Write comment