WLBT 3 - Jackson, MS: Some Miss. schools balk at swine flu shots

Some Miss. schools balk at swine flu shots

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Swine flu shots remain in demand across the state with some clinics temporarily running out of the vaccine. Some schools, however, are balking at giving swine flu shots.

Ellen Aregood, assistant to the superintendent at Madison County School District, says the district will distribute information, but will not offer schools as immunization sites. She says it is a parent's decision on whether a child should get a shot.

State Department of Health officials say more than 800 schools have moved to provide the vaccine - expected to be given over the next few weeks to about 500,000 Mississippi students.

Clinton schools will begin giving shots Thursday. About a sixth of the district's more than 4,600 students have received permission to get the vaccine.

The Rankin County School Board voted Wednesday to administer the shots.

James Mason, a spokesman for the Hinds County School District, said vaccinations start next Friday in the Raymond area schools, followed by schools in Byram and Terry on Dec. 1-4. No dates have been set yet for Bolton and Utica schools.

Health Department spokeswoman Liz Sharlot says the demand has been steady for the vaccine at the department's clinics across the state.

The vaccine is available free of charge at clinics for these groups: pregnant women; children 6 months through 4 years of age; and parents, siblings, caregivers and anyone else living in the house with an infant under 6 months of age.

Health officials say these groups are at the highest risk for complications from the flu.

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