Ala. school clinics to offer flu vaccine mist

Ala. school clinics to offer flu vaccine mist

MONTGOMERY (AP) — Alabama schoolchildren younger than 10 will be offered the nasal mist swine flu vaccine at clinics on campus beginning next week.

State Health Officer Don Williamson and state schools Superintendent Joe Morton said at a news conference Wednesday the nasal mist vaccine would be administered at school-based clinics to children in kindergarten to third grade.

Williamson said the vaccine is being given to young children first because two doses are recommended for those 9-years-old and younger. He said the second dose would be given about four weeks after the first is administered.

Health Department officials said they expect the vaccine to be offered for older children after Jan. 1.

Williamson said the clinics would be in some schools next week and would be in the majority of schools the week of Nov. 30 to Dec. 4. He recommended that parents allow their children to receive the vaccine unless they are allergic to eggs. He said children with serious chronic health conditions should go to a private doctor or a public health clinic and receive a flu shot rather than the nasal mist.

Children who have already had the swine flu or whose parents believe they have had it still should receive the vaccine. He said there are other viruses that cause similar symptoms to swine flu.

“It is safe to be vaccinated if you have already had it,“ Williamson said.

Morton said parents must sign permission forms if they want their children to be vaccinated at the school clinics.

So far 32 deaths in Alabama have been attributed to the swine flu, also called the H1N1 virus.

Morton said school officials will not force children to receive the vaccine.

“All they have to do is not send the form back,“ Morton said.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.