Chandler schools to start offering flu vaccines

Students at four Chandler elementary schools will be among the first in the Valley to get seasonal- and H1N1-flu immunizations at school-based clinics starting Monday if their parents give their approval.

The shots and FluMist nasal spray immunizations are coming to Galveston Elementary in central Chandler, Ryan Elementary in the east, Jacobson Elementary in the south and Chandler Traditional Academy-Goodman in the north.

As of mid-day Friday, the schedule “if all goes well,” said district spokesman Terry Locke, is:

* Jacobson on Monday
* Ryan on Tuesday
* CTA- Goodman on Wednesday
* Galveston on Thursday

Mollen Immunization Clinics chose the sites in an effort to spread the limited supply of immunizations evenly throughout the city, said its president, John Roehm. Students from other schools can't get shots at those four sites, but more clinics are coming to Chandler schools as more vaccine becomes available.

Mollen is planning a total of 50 clinics at public elementary schools beginning Monday and has plans to ramp up that number as flu-shot makers churn out the H1N1, which like seasonal-flu vaccines, is grown in eggs.

Mollen, which orders large quantities of flu vaccines every year, is offering both vaccines at school-based clinics to fight a worldwide flu outbreak. Younger individuals have little or no immunity to the H1N1 virus and are being hit harder than older people because their immune systems seem to overreact to the virus.

Health officials have long braced themselves for a flu pandemic, which strikes every 50 years or so. The last flu pandemic was in 1976. Most experts believe the world is overdue for another influenza pandemic that strikes with more lethality than the typical seasonal flu, which kills about 36,000 Americans every year.

Chandler public school officials said Wednesday that they have few details about the planned clinics and have no way of telling how many students have registered for the vaccines.

Mollen officials are asking parents to register their children at www.flushotusa.com as soon as possible so they can distribute the vaccine as soon as they receive it.

As of Tuesday, Mollen had 30,000 doses that it was distributing proportionally to school districts and charter schools throughout Maricopa County. Those parents who don't have computer access can fill out a questionnaire on paper that helps the clinic's registered nurses determine which children should receive the injection and which should get the live but weakened FluMist nasal spray virus.

Terry Locke, spokesman for the Chandler Unified School District, said Wednesday that he is awaiting details from Mollen about the four clinics planned at its elementary schools.

Because the clinics are being outsourced to Mollen, it has all the details and is working furiously to get them established as promised.

Cost of the flu shots varies depending on a student's health insurance coverage. Those without private medical insurance and those on state Medicaid programs will get the shots for free. Students who have private insurance will pay $15 for each shot and then must submit a bill to their insurance companies to be reimbursed.