By Joe Olenick<br><a href="mailto:joe.olenick@lockportjournal.com">E-mail Joe</a>
NEWFANE — The Newfane School District will be giving out the H1N1 influenza vaccines next month following an informational meeting for families to be held next week.
People are invited to a meeting with the Niagara County Health Department from 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 13 at the middle school auditorium, 2700 Transit Road.
Superintendent Gary Pogorzelski said the vaccines will be offered for free to NECC students first and those who live in the same household. Vaccines are voluntary, and no student will receive one without parental consent.
“We’re going to focus primarily on the younger kids, since there is a shortage,” Pogorzelski said.
Informational flyers are being sent out to district residents this week. Also going home with students are registration packets for the vaccines, because pre-registration is required to help move things along smoothly Dec. 11.
At the Nov. 13 meeting, speakers will include county Public Health Director Daniel Stapleton and Elaine Roman, the county director for health planning, information and emergency preparedness. Both will answer any questions residents might have about the H1N1 virus or vaccine, Pogorzelski said.
The flyer stresses that people from 6 months of age up to 24 years are at a high risk of catching H1N1. Also in the risk pool are pregnant women, healthcare workers, those with long-term health problems and those who live with or care for children under 6 months old. The health department advises consistent hand washing, cleaning contact areas, covering coughs and sneezes and staying home when sick to fight the spread of H1N1.
Another local district giving out H1N1 vaccines is Starpoint. The district, along with Newfane and Royalton-Hartland, have been working with the county health department as PODs or points of dispensing for the vaccine. Registration is due for Starpoint residents Friday and the H1N1 flu clinic will be held from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Nov. 21 at the high school, 4363 Mapleton Road, Pendleton.
As in Newfane, the vaccine will be given to Starpoint staff and students, as well as those who live with them. The county health department has referred to this as a “cocooning” approach, meaning if everyone who lives with a person at risk of infection is vaccinated, it lessens the chance of H1N1 spreading.
