900,000 schoolchildren to receive swine flu vaccination

By Niall Murray Education Correspondent

Thursday, November 19, 2009

THE vaccination of over 900,000 school children, teachers and other education staff against swine flu will begin next week.

However, some pupils and staff will have to attend neighbouring schools or local HSE vaccination clinics as it will not be logistically possible to provide a vaccination programme in all 4,000 primary and second level schools.

A vaccination pack for the parents of every pupil will be sent by the HSE to schools, including a consent form which must be completed by the parents or guardians every child under the age of 16.

The vaccination programme against the H1N1 pandemic is being rolled out to all children from five to 18 years old as the second priority group, following the initial vaccine delivery to people in at-risk health categories over recent weeks and, in more recent days, to children aged between six months and five years old.

The schools programme, with a target group of around 850,000 primary and second level pupils, 60,000 teachers and up to 20,000 other schools staff is expected to continue into early next year. The HSE is finalising which schools in which it is likely to establish clinics, and is likely to use second level schools mostly because of their sizes, with the aim of operating vaccination facilities as close as possible to school opening hours.

Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe paid tribute to the efforts of schools to date in helping to prevent the spread of the pandemic and asked them to continue their co-operation when the vaccination programme begins.

"I want to thank principals, teachers, school staff and managers for the conscientious and thorough way in which they have co-operated with the public health authorities in averting the spread of the virus. It’s important now that schools continue to adopt good hand and respiratory hygiene practice."

Up to lunchtime yesterday, 96,330 people had received the swine flu vaccination at HSE clinics and it is estimated around the same number will have been vaccinated by their family doctors.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Thursday, November 19, 2009