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Flu shot clinics begin at Scott County schools

GATE CITY — Despite a slower than anticipated rollout of vaccine for H1N1 influenza, students at three elementary schools in Scott County began receiving inoculations for the virus Thursday.

Students at Nickelsville Elementary, Dungannon Elementary and Fort Blackmore Primary were given H1N1 vaccination shots after the Lenowisco Health District alerted school officials about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday that they had finally received enough of the vaccine to begin clinics.

Nickelsville Elementary had 90 students take the vaccine, the most of the three schools.

The vaccination clinics were originally scheduled to begin the week of Oct. 26 at schools in Scott County but had to be postponed indefinitely due to a shortage of vaccine in shot form.

After completing the first three schools, Scott County Schools Nursing Director Amber Goode said she learned shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday that there were enough shots to continue vaccinations at three more elementary schools today.

“They did call me at about 20 till 3 and told me they had enough and they were going to Yuma, Weber City and Hiltons (on Friday),” Goode said. “They’ll start at Yuma around 8:45 a.m. before going on to Weber City and then Hiltons.”

A team of nurses from the health district will administer the vaccine during the clinics.

Goode said the health district should tell her by the time school ends Friday if there is still enough of the vaccine available to be able to continue inoculations Monday at Shoemaker Elementary, Duffield Primary and Rye Cove Elementary.

“It’s really a very last-minute situation in letting us know,” Goode said. “The only thing we can hope for is that the parents have contacted the schools and let us know if their child has already gotten their shot so we know not to give them one again.”

If the school system is able to give the vaccinations Monday, Goode said it would complete H1N1 inoculations at all of the county’s elementary schools.

As more supply becomes available in the coming weeks, Goode said nurses would return to administer vaccines in the system’s intermediate schools and high schools.

Goode said it’s important to get as many students vaccinated as possible because the Centers for Disease Control is predicting that H1N1 could linger for quite some time.

“The CDC is predicting a third wave of H1N1 in the coming months,” she said. “That’s why a lot of doctors are saying to go ahead and get the vaccine even if you think you’ve had H1N1. A lot of doctors are not testing for it, so there’s a chance you could get H1N1 if that wasn’t the flu type you had.”

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