TimesLeader.com

December 8, 2008

GNA offers free vaccine program

Students needing immunizations would be able to receive shots at school with parents’ permission.

By Sherry Long slong@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

NANTICOKE – Some students in the Greater Nanticoke Area School District can receive free immunizations shots at school.

The “School Immunization Catch-up Program,” a federally funded project, introduced more than a decade ago, was designed to assist school nurses to offer immunization clinics. The state sends the participating districts the vaccines for free.

Only students who are deficient in their vaccines will receive the shots if their parents sign the authorization form, Greater Nanticoke Area health care coordinator Sandy Najaka said.

The state recently increased the number of vaccines a child needs based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control, said Heather Staford, director of Bureau of Immunizations for Pennsylvania. Students now need two shots to help prevent chickenpox, an extra booster shot between the ages of 11 and 12, and a meningococcal vaccine.

But some parents aren’t aware of the new vaccines, so their child falls behind on his or her required shots, said Najaka, who reviewed students’ shots records to determine which students are not up to date in their vaccinations. Letters were sent out home to parents notifying them if their students needed to get a caught up on their shots.

Students don’t have to get their shots through the district, but they do have to receive the vaccines before entering school in fall 2009, Najaka said.

Nanticoke is one of only four districts in the state participating because some school districts find it is too time-consuming on their nursing staff to review all the students’ medical files to ensure the child is eligible, according to Pennsylvania Department of Health spokesperson Stacy Kriedeman.

Najaka acknowledges it can be time consuming to coordinate a vaccination clinic, but says the benefits to the district and parents outweigh the time spent handling the paperwork.

The district will ensure all its students have their required vaccines and students don’t have to miss school.

“For kids to have it in school it saves a trip to the doctor’s office and helps families without health insurance,” Najaka said.

Najaka hopes this vaccine clinic to be held in the spring semester will bring the students up to date on all their shots.

Students in grades six through 12 will receive two of the vaccines – the booster shot and meningococcal vaccine – when the district’s nursing staff administers the shots. Fifth-graders will receive the chickenpox shot

TO LEARN MORE

For more information on immunizations, visit the Center for Disease Control by clicking here http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/

Sherry Long, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7159.