Students, teachers and other staff in local school districts will have the opportunity to receive flu vaccines at their individual schools, starting as early as this week in one district.
The Bryant district will be first to conduct the clinics, which are set for Wednesday-Friday in some of the elementary schools, Tammy Davis, nurse supervisor, said.
Clinics are set Wednesday at Springhlll Elementary; Thursday at Collegeville Elementary; and Friday at Hurricane Creek Elementary, Davis said.
Clinics also are scheduled Nov. 4 and 5 at Bryant High School, Bryant Middle and Bryant Elementary schools, she said. Additional clinics are set Nov. 10 at Davis Elementary and Nov. 13 at Salem Elementary. A clinic also will be held at Paron Elementary, but Davis was not certain of that date.
David said the district will not learn until today whether it will receive both the H1N1 and Type A vaccines.
That information was to be made available today by the Health Department, she said.
“As far as I know, won’t know till after today whether we’ll be getting both,” she said.
Davis said community residents are being advised to get their vaccines at a mass clinic set Oct. 30 at Holland Chapel Baptist Church.
“That’s a free clinic and everyone who shows up will get one,” she said.
Krisann Bullard, head nurse for the Benton School District, said clinics are scheduled Oct. 27 and 28 in Benton Schools.
“A clinic is set Oct. 27 at the high school arena for students in Grades 6-12 and it will be held during school hours — from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.,” Bullard said.
Clinics for elementary students — K-5 — are scheduled the following day during the same hours at the individual elementary days, she said.
The vaccines are free to both students and staff, Bullard said.
“In order to get a flu shot, students’ parent must complete the permission form they received,” Bullard said.
School district personnel have requested students’ “health history so we can know what kind of vaccine they can take,” she said.
Both the intranasal and intramuscular types will be available, but some people can’t receive the live virus, which is contained in the intranasal type, she said.
The intramuscular type contained a killed virus, she said.
According to Bullard, who has been an employee of the district for 20 years, this event marks the first time flu shot clinics have been held in the school district.
“Depending on availability, we’re offering the seasonal and H1N1 vaccines,’ she said.
“We have been told that there’s no risk in receiving both at the same time,” she said.
Nicki Tucker, a secretary at Westbrook Elementary School in the Harmony Grove District, said the vaccines will be administered there on Nov. 18.
“We’ don’t know yet if we’ll have both types,” she said. “We know we’ll receive the Type A vaccine, but we’re still not sure on H1N1.”
Permission forms will be sent home to parents for them to return to the district, she said.
The vaccines will be available to all students and school personnel, but not to the community at large, she said.
Clinics are scheduled Nov. 9 in the Bauxite district, according to nurse Paula Ashley.
“We will be doing the shots, although we may use the intranasal vaccine for kindergartners,” Ashley said.
She said the district will be offering both the seasonal flu vaccine as well as the H1N1 vaccine.
“It is OK to have both at the same time,” Ashley said.
According to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, side effects of the flu shot are soreness, redness or swelling at the site; low-grade fever; and aches. If these problems occur, they begin soon after the shot and usually last one to two days.
Life-threatening allergic reactions reportedly are rare. Signs of serious allergic reaction can include breathing problems, hoarseness or wheezing, hives, paleness, weakness, a fast heartbeat, or dizziness. If they do occur, it is within a few minutes to a few hours after the shot.
These reactions are more likely to occur among persons with a severe allergy to eggs, because the viruses used in the influenza vaccine are grown in hens’ eggs. People who have had a severe reaction to eggs or to a flu shot in the past should not get a flu shot before seeing a physician.
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