WAFF.com: North Alabama News, Radar, Weather, Sports and Jobs-Madison school nurse ready for H1N1 vaccine's arrival
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MADISON, AL (WAFF) - Thursday was just another day in the school nurses' office at Columbia Elementary School in Madison. School nurse Laura Dickerson was anxious though as she prepares to help start the H1N1 mass vaccination effort.
"I think the only chaos will be if the children are a little nervous about it," Dickerson said.
Madison City Schools, along with every other school system in the country, will be giving out the shot form of the H1N1 vaccine. It's not mandatory, but highly recommended.
"Each student will have a consent form," said Madison City Schools head nurse Bonnie Davis. "They have to be signed. nobody will be made to have a shot that doesn't have a consent form; even if Mama wants them to have it and they don't, we're not going to force any child to have it."
Davis said they've been instructed by state health officials to set up the clinic in a gym or library. More than likely the school nurses will not be giving the shot, but instead a team of nurses.
While the schools are preparing for this rare but urgent clinic, school officials said parents need to stay informed and educated.
"It's a [dead] virus," Davis said. "You cannot get the flu from the vaccine. Now if you get it after that, it could be that you were already exposed before you got the vaccine, but you cannot get the flu from the vaccine."
Dickenson, despite being a nurse, said she fully supports the Department of Health's initative.
"Even from my own perspective, taking my children to the doctor's office to get immunization, there's a lot of sick children there," she said. "I want to be able to bring them to a place where you know where there's not a lot of sick children."
Madison City School officials said their plan to start their vaccination effort in mid-November.
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C'mon, play. You know you want to. The boss will never know.
