Commonground
Senior Moderator
By VANESSA DE LA TORRE<!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_byline_preview" END --> <!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_display_time_preview" START -->11:16 p.m. EDT, October 22, 2009<!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_display_time_preview" END -->
<!-- sphereit start --> <!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_dateline_preview" START -->WEST HARTFORD ? - <!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_dateline_preview" END --> <!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_body_preview" START -->Still contemplating whether to inoculate a child against swine flu? Local health officials hope families decide soon as the officials work with the school system to determine interest in H1N1 vaccines.
Steven Huleatt, health director for the West Hartford/Bloomfield Health District, said the agency has been developing a survey with school administrators that should be distributed to parents soon. The health district needs an estimate of how many doses to order, and the survey would act as a kind of "pre-registration," Huleatt said this week.
Parents who indicate that they want their children to participate in a vaccination clinic ? possibly held at respective town schools, after school ? would then receive another form to complete. Except at the high school level, students would need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian as they are vaccinated for free.
But it remains unclear when such vaccinations would take place. Because of the enormous volume of health care providers around the country ordering the vaccine, Huleatt said, doses have been arriving slower than expected and in limited numbers.
Currently, children ages 2 to 4 are deemed a priority group to receive the vaccine. Elementary school-age children could be next, Huleatt said.
Assistant superintendent for administration Timothy Dunn said the school system has been monitoring student absences daily and has not seen an increase in absenteeism so far.
Dunn emphasized that the vaccination program is voluntary and that the school system's role is to help the health district's efforts.
The health district also is working on a memorandum of understanding with St. Joseph College to vaccinate children at the West Hartford campus who may miss being vaccinated at their town school, Huleatt said.
http://www.courant.com/community/hartford/hc-west-hartford-swine-flu-1023.artoct22,0,5161381.story
<!-- sphereit start --> <!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_dateline_preview" START -->WEST HARTFORD ? - <!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_dateline_preview" END --> <!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_body_preview" START -->Still contemplating whether to inoculate a child against swine flu? Local health officials hope families decide soon as the officials work with the school system to determine interest in H1N1 vaccines.
Steven Huleatt, health director for the West Hartford/Bloomfield Health District, said the agency has been developing a survey with school administrators that should be distributed to parents soon. The health district needs an estimate of how many doses to order, and the survey would act as a kind of "pre-registration," Huleatt said this week.
Parents who indicate that they want their children to participate in a vaccination clinic ? possibly held at respective town schools, after school ? would then receive another form to complete. Except at the high school level, students would need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian as they are vaccinated for free.
But it remains unclear when such vaccinations would take place. Because of the enormous volume of health care providers around the country ordering the vaccine, Huleatt said, doses have been arriving slower than expected and in limited numbers.
Currently, children ages 2 to 4 are deemed a priority group to receive the vaccine. Elementary school-age children could be next, Huleatt said.
Assistant superintendent for administration Timothy Dunn said the school system has been monitoring student absences daily and has not seen an increase in absenteeism so far.
Dunn emphasized that the vaccination program is voluntary and that the school system's role is to help the health district's efforts.
The health district also is working on a memorandum of understanding with St. Joseph College to vaccinate children at the West Hartford campus who may miss being vaccinated at their town school, Huleatt said.
http://www.courant.com/community/hartford/hc-west-hartford-swine-flu-1023.artoct22,0,5161381.story