September is just around the corner and so is another potential bout with the H1N1 virus or better known as swine flu. The biggest question on most people’s mind today with respect to this topic is when a vaccination will be available.
With the opening of schools in a few weeks, many people are concerned with when and how they can get their child vaccinated.
Recent reports released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest that schools would be a likely place for the distribution of any type of vaccination. The New Jersey Association of School Administrators (NJASA) feels that the decision of using schools for mass vaccinations should be left up to local officials, and therefore decisions about using schools will vary considerably from community to community. We encourage all school districts to work directly with their municipal and/or county health departments when considering such actions.
The CDC has recently created two very informative booklets that provide guidance to help decrease the spread of flu among students and school staff during the 2009-2010 school year. The first is titled, CDC’s Guidance for State and Local Public Health Officials and School Administrators for School (K-12) Responses to Influenza during the 2009-2010 School Year. The second, Preparing for the Flu: A Communications Toolkit for Schools (Grades K-12), was created to help implement the recommendations made in the first guide.
As a reminder, the New Jersey Department of Education, in collaboration with the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, is hosting a summit on August 25, at the South Brunswick High School in Monmouth Junction, to assist school administrators, health officials, and emergency responders in the planning for a statewide pandemic influenza outbreak. Topics that will be addressed include:
-Federal Update
-NJ’s Pandemic Plan
-School Closures
-Continuity of Educational Services
-Promising Practices to Help School Districts
For more information on this summit, please click here.
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