Tara Wix, RN and director of school health for Macon County schools brought a proposal from Upper-Cumberland Health Department before the school board at their meeting on Thursday night. The proposal would allow the health department to use the schools as sites to administer H1N1 vaccines to Macon County schools students and employees.

“It is all completely their process,” said Wix. “I'm assisting just with the paperwork if it's okay with you guys. They have put together a packet. In the packet is a description of the H1N1 vaccine, and the importance of taking it. Then, the next page is the parental permission slip, and the next two pages is H1N1 info, the vaccination info on the nasal mist and the injection.

“They have brought to me this morning about 3,800 packets already put together for me to distribute to the schools that would go home tomorrow. Ideally, they'd like for these to be back next Friday for all students. It's all voluntary, whoever wants to take it, and they're wanting to come in the last week of January, first of February to start these clinics.

"This derived from the National Emergency Act President Obama passed last year after the H1N1 flu, and this is under that to get as many people covered with this vaccination as possible.

"They're willing to go to every school depending on the demand, we have no expectations of how many might sign up. There might be twenty, there might be 120 from each school. Depending on how many sign up and the demand they'll go to that school. They're not going to not go to a school if there's not enough. If there's only ten, they're still going to go to that school and give those ten. They might cover two or three schools in one day, it might take them the whole week to get to every school.

"I'm going to work with the principals, and do it when it's best convenient for the schools.

"All of it's free. It's to everybody. The staff, it's to busdrivers, it's to maintenance, it's to anybody in the school system, and I'm assuming for subs. They would have to find a school that they're going to be at. I don't think that they'll come to one location for everybody to come, but we can make a schedule out to where they're going to be, and they can go to those schools at any time."

Board member Bill Wilmore expressed concern over the school system's position in the event that a student who receives the shot experiences a reaction to it.

"If a child takes a shot in one of our schools, and something happens to them, who's responsible?"

"The state is completely liable for everything that they do," replied Wix. "We the nurses in the school system will not be giving any injections. We will assist with assessments and paperwork, but the Department of Health is in charge of all medications. They're offering the nasal mist and the injection. They're thinking that they have enough of the mist to give to all children that qualify for it, so there will be less anxiety."

"Its just the same as if they were to go to the health department. The health department will put these on their records."

Wilmore then asked,“Have you heard of any problems with this shot?”

“No sir," Wix said. "I've had it. I got it the first of December, and my children have had it. I haven't seen or heard of any adverse reactions from taking the injection. And they've been giving it since the latter of September.”

The board carried a motion allowing the health department to use the schools as sites to administer H1N1 vaccinations to students and faculty of Macon County schools.

Additional information will be available here at maconcountytimes.com as well as in next Thursday's edition of the Times.