Franklin County Delays Start Of School H1N1 Clinics

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Franklin County Board of Health has determined that it is necessary to delay the start of the school located H1N1 vaccination clinics.

Health officials said they do not have enough vaccine to take care of all children in all of the Franklin County jurisdiction school districts at this time. Due to the fact that vaccine shipments have been delayed from the manufacturers and other providers such as health care providers and mass retail pharmacies do not currently have vaccine this has created a greater demand on the public health system throughout the community.

Instead of starting school located clinics for elementary age children next week the health department will now follow this new strategy:

1) Next week open clinics to serve ALL children between the ages of 6 months and 4 years of age.

2) Soon after clinics will open to include children 5 years of age through 18 years of age who have chronic medical conditions that put them at higher risk for flu related complications. These clinics will be located throughout Franklin County and will not be located in the schools.

3) They will expand to high risk groups beyond that based on vaccine availability and planning.

School located clinics will still be planned in the future as long as the need exists and the vaccine arrives.

According to a letter that was sent to parents, the board said, "It was our sincere hope that vaccine would be readily available in the community at the time we planned to start the clinics the beginning of November. That is not the case. The shipment of H1N1 vaccinations from the manufacturers has slowed and we do not have the available supply to take care of all of the children in all of the schools at this time.

"We had to make the difficult decision to delay the start of the school located clinics. Instead we had to break the high risk groups down into additional categories as recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (who provides guidance to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). To date, we have been vaccinating pregnant women, caregivers of children under 6 months and health care providers. Next week we will expand to all young children between 6 months and 4 years of age. We will then expand the clinics to include children between 5 years of age and 18 years of age who have chronic medical conditions. These clinics will be held throughout November in locations around the county and will NOT be held at the schools.

"This was a Franklin County Board of Health decision based on vaccine availability and finding the best way to serve the highest number of people with the supplies we have. This was not a school district decision. The Franklin County Board of Health would like to thank the school districts for their willingness to let us use their facilities and for their assistance with communicating with you.

"It is our hope that additional supplies of vaccine will continue to arrive in our community. School located clinics will still be planned in the future as long as the need exists and vaccine becomes available. In the meantime, you may be able to find it through other providers (such as health care providers and mass retail pharmacies) in the near future. We encourage you to watch www.columbuspandemicflu.org for clinic details as they are announced. You can also call 2-1-1."

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