More than 100 students received a nasal vaccination against the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu, at East Dover Elementary School on Nov. 2.
The event was part of a state initiative to work with nurses in public and private schools to vaccinate as many children as possible against the virus, which is responsible for more than 100 child deaths in the United States.
“There are roughly 150,000 children in public and private charter schools across Delaware, and our goal was to vaccinate about 50% of them, but that all depends on how many parents will give their consent,” said Kris Bennett, public health nursing director with the state Department of Health.
Bennett noted the state had not been certain about the supply of the vaccine and had decided to give the younger children the nasal spray to allow for the most efficiency in administering the vaccination.
“We figured that 20 kids could be vaccinated per a nurse per an hour through this method,” Bennett said, noting children in grades six through 12 will receive the vaccination through an injection in future weeks.
East Dover Elementary began giving the vaccinations around 9 a.m., and as the three nurses wrapped up approximately 90 minutes later, Linda Wolfe, director of school support services for the state Department of Education, said she was pleased with how smoothly things went.
“We certainly hoped it would go this well,” Wolfe said.
This is one of the few mass vaccinations since the polio outbreak in the 1950s, Bennett said.
“I’m from an era that remembers polio and sugar cubes,” Bennett said. “But I’m not aware of any mass vaccination attempts in the state since then.”
Here is a list of vaccination dates for Kent County schools for this week:
Wednesday, Nov. 4
Capital School District: Fairview Elementary and Hartly Elementary
Smyrna School District: Sunnyside Elementary and North Smyrna Elementary
Thursday, Nov. 5
Lake Forest School District: Lake Forest South Elementary
For more information about both H1N1 and seasonal vaccines, visit www.flu.delaware.gov.
Email Elaine Hughes at elaine.hughes@doverpost.com
Dover, Del. —
