Seasonal influenza vaccine opportunities for schools – Next steps

INFORMATIONAL LETTER: 8
POLICY CODE: JLCB
TO: Superintendents of Schools, Private Schools, Special Purpose Private Schools, and School Nurses
FROM: Susan A. Gendron, Commissioner of Education
DATE: July 29, 2009
RE: Seasonal influenza vaccine opportunities for schools – Next steps

SUMMARY: The purpose of this letter is to provide follow-up planning documents, and guidance for how to proceed in offering seasonal influenza clinics in the school setting.

There has been a very positive response to the Seasonal Influenza Clinic Opportunity Informational Letter 107 dated June 8, 2009. More than eighty school units representing 300+ schools have responded with an interest in having school immunization clinics. This represents over 90,000 school-age children.

The following links will provide the documents necessary to proceed with planning seasonal influenza clinics in your schools. Parent information packets and planning clinic space will come in August.

The definitions below will help to clarify the terms used frequently when talking about seasonal influenza clinics.

MIP – Maine Immunization Program, Maine CDC, DHHS, which oversees this initiative.

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) – the agreement that is in place between a school unit and a private provider (e.g., school physician office, pediatrician office, hospital or other health care entity) that clearly outlines the responsibilities of each group during this process. http://www.maine.gov/education/sh/fluclinics/

PCP – primary care providers. These are health care providers who have a PIN (personal identification number (PIN) and can order vaccine from MIP.

Vaccination agreement-the document used by the school administrative unit that wishes to order its own vaccine and has the ability to store the vaccine in the school setting, in accordance with the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) guidelines. The guidelines are described at the Maine Immunization Program (MIP) website at http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/boh/mip/materials.html School units that have school-based health care centers may already have this agreement in place.

Next steps for school units:

Pursue EITHER becoming a vaccine provider by going through the agreement process OR sign an MOU with a local PCP to order and temporarily store vaccine dedicated for school clinic use.
Choose dates for seasonal influenza vaccine clinics for each school site (if necessary). Dates should be as soon as possible after students are back in session and permission forms are returned. Also, choose a back-up date to allow for unforeseen circumstances that might delay delivery of vaccine. This is not expected, but it is better to be prepared.
Provide a 40% enrollment number to the PCP. This will set in motion the process to dedicate that number of doses for your school unit’s clinics.
Encourage school nurses involved in conducting mass immunization clinics to attend the H1N1 Summit on August 20, 2009. Two break-out sessions will be included regarding conducting mass immunization clinics, a refresher in giving immunizations and entering data into a database.

More information on conducting school-based immunization clinics can be found at http://www.ct.gov/dph/lib/dph/infectiousdiseases/immunization/pdf/schoolfluclinicmarch2009vogtslides.pdf and http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/vaccination/vaxclinic.htm

For further information, contact Nancy Dube, School Nurse Consultant, Department of Education (and Maine CDC) at 624-6688 or nancy.dube@maine.gov .