Community students first in line for flu shots

CUMBERLAND - About 80 percent of the 697 youngsters of Community School are heading to Cumberland High School this afternoon as they become the first in town inoculated against an H1N1 flu virus that as of Monday was blamed for a 12 percent absentee rate throughout the town.

The response rate to the school district's call for permission slips is slightly higher than the average response statewide, Superintendent Donna Morelle told The Breeze as she and Cumberland Police Capt. James Coyne shared what parents and children will experience as they participate in this inoculation program.

Vaccines are being distributed to schoolchildren around the state according to a random order devised by the state Department of Health that matched available doses to the populations of schools.

Parents have been notified about the schedule through fliers and a town-wide telephone message system.

Their comments came on the day that the community learned a Lincoln Middle School girl had died of flu-like symptoms over the weekend.

Unlike most school systems, Cumberland is holding its elementary clinics in a central location - at the high school on Mendon Road where emergency and health professionals have held three mock drills over three years in preparation for a mass inoculation program.

While middle and high school students will get their shots during the school day in their own schools, the elementary kids are going after hours so that parents may accompany them.

"The School Department has been given a lot of responsibility," said Morelle, and she's pleased to tap into a well rehearsed strategy.

Planning for the vaccine began in May, she said.

Here are some details pertinent to Cumberland's program.

Coyne said he's well aware children are being asked to go to a strange school to receive a shot that's frightening for them.

The police captain, who heads the School Safety Committee and participated in the practice drills at CHS, says the high school is the town's best choice because it is well lit with plenty of off-street parking.

The Wellness Company of Providence was selected to administer shots for the state and Coyne said local school and emergency response personnel will work with them.

Morelle and Coyne are pledging to provide as professional a clinic as possible.

Morelle and local emergency management personnel are stressing that:

* Permission slips are required by at least by the day before the school's clinic.

* According to new rules issued this week, children may attend the flu clinic even if they missed school that day, provided their termperature is under 100.4 degrees.

* Children must attend the clinic scheduled for their school only and even notes from family doctors won't get them into another clinic.

"We can't stress enough that consent forms are mandatory," Morelle noted. They're available online or by calling a child's school.

Parents arriving at the high school should drive around to the rear of the high school and enter through the back doors. Signs will be posted.

Families needing transportation to the high school may pick up a free bus, provided at no cost by the town's transportation contractor Durham. Buses will run every half hour from the front of the elementary school participating in the clinic that day from 4 to 7:30 p.m., said Morelle.

Once inside the school, students will be greeted by a school official, likely their own principal, who will verify that they are enrolled in the school participating on that day.

A PowerPoint presentation will be offered to parents and kids about the virus and vaccine and will be played while they wait in line.

Children are asked to wear short-sleeved shirts under their winter jackets.

Teams of three from Wellness Company of Providence will administer the shots at a rate of about 25 per hour, according to information Morelle has received from the Department of Health.

Children are being asked to report for vaccines on a staggered basis according to grade level with the youngest going first.

Children will be asked to wait to be observed for 15 minutes after they receive the vaccine.

Morelle noted that she learned this week that children under age 10 may need a second shot in January.

Meanwhile, for children who have symptoms of the flu, including a fever or cough, Morelle asks that they remain home until 24 hours after a normal temperature returns without fever reducing medications.

To download a permission slip, go to this Web site: www.health.state.ri.us/news .