Flu shots will be offered to kids in Twin Cities schools

Thousands of Minnesota school kids may be able to get their H1N1 flu shots at school starting in mid- to late November, health officials said Tuesday.

This is the first time in decades that schools have been asked to play a part in a mass vaccination program.

State and local agencies are making plans to hold dozens of flu shot clinics in schools throughout the Twin Cities, starting the week of Nov. 16.

Plans are still in flux, and some say the clinics may not start until December if the vaccine is still in short supply.

The plan is to provide the vaccines first to children 9 and younger, then expand to all school-age children, said Kris Ehresmann of the Minnesota Department of Health.

Only children who bring signed consent forms will be given the vaccines. Many parents have had a hard time finding the H1N1, or swine flu, vaccine because it's been reserved for the most vulnerable groups, such as health workers, pregnant women and kids with underlying health problems.

But Ehresmann said that healthy kids are the next priority group, and that's why state and local health officials have been asked to start gearing up for the school clinics.

Scott County, for example, is planning to set up its first flu-shot clinics in elementary schools during school hours Nov. 17 to 19, using gymnasiums or other large spaces. Some Minneapolis elementary schools are expected to open clinics that same week, officials say.

This morning, officials in Dakota, Anoka and Hennepin counties decided to hold a handful of flu-shot clinics for children 9 and younger starting the week of Nov. 16, said Mary Ann Blade, CEO of the Minnesota Visiting Nurse Agency, which will staff most of the clinics. But the locations have yet to be announced.

All three counties have drawn up plans to offer flu-shot clinics at area high schools, she said. But when, or even whether, those clinics occur will depend on the supply of the vaccine. "We have alternate dates all the way through the end of December," Blade said, but there's too much uncertainty about vaccine supplies to nail down the plans. "There will be no school clinics if they don't have enough vaccine to do it," she said.

The federal government is providing the H1N1 vaccine free.

Jennifer Deschaine, Scott County's public health director, said she plans to roll out the clinics one school at a time, starting with elementary schools and working up to junior and senior high schools. She declined to say which school will be first, saying it "was kind of a lottery pick." She said the county will start sending information and permission slips this week to families of students in public, private and parochial schools. It could take five weeks to cover all the schools.

In Dakota County, officials had hoped to start school flu clinics this month, but the vaccine shortage may push plans back to December. "As it turns out, we're getting quite a bit less than we thought," said Howard Epstein, the community health coordinator. Still, he said, Dakota County may hold some clinics for kids ages 2 to 9 in county buildings in mid-November.

The first group to get vaccinated -- children 9 and younger -- will need a second shot a month later.

Officials had hoped to open the clinics to all school children as well as young adults and other high-risk groups, "but there won't be enough vaccine to do that," said Susan Palchick, a public health manager for Hennepin County.

Vaccine supplies continue to arrive in Minnesota, as around the country, at a slower pace than many hoped. As of Monday, Minnesota had received 470,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine, Ehresmann said. The supplies will determine whether the school clinics will have to be postponed, she said.

Staff Writer Sarah Lemagie contributed to this report. Maura Lerner • 612-673-7384