WMBFNews.com | Myrtle Beach/Florence, SC | News, Weather, SportsHorry County offering H1N1 vaccine in schools

Horry County offering H1N1 vaccine in schools

By Brandon Herring - bio | email

HORRY COUNTY, SC (WMBF) - The Horry County School District will begin offering H1N1 flu vaccines to students at school next month. The vaccines will be provided for free with the help of extra nurses from the Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Teachers will send a consent letter home with each child in the school system. That letter will allow parents to decide whether or not they'd like their children to get the vaccine.

The letter will be accompanied by more information about the H1N1 flu vaccine and a schedule for the vaccine clinics.

Myrtle Beach High School nurse Lynn Merrell said for parents "to get the information and feel comfortable with what they're doing," is important.

Merrell and Myrtle Beach High School Principal Nona Kerr said they'll be sending out the letter and additional information for parents soon. The first Horry County schools to get the vaccinations are on the schedule for November 9. Myrtle Beach High School students are on the schedule on December 1.

"Anytime you do something that is going to be school wide, whether it affects one child or all 1,250 of them it's very important you get that information out to all the parents," Kerr said.

While Jennifer Pearson's children aren't in the public school system, she supports the idea of H1N1 vaccinations for children. She has three children, and two of them were diagnosed with the swine flu earlier this year. So she understands first-hand how bad the symptoms can be.

"Even after you think your child is getting better it can put them in the hospital and ultimately I know children have been dying from it and no one wants to lose their kid," Pearson said.

Pearson's children attend the Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach where administrators are also working on plans to offer H1N1 vaccinations to students.

"It's very important that we get the vaccine to as many kids as we can to keep our community safe and to keep our schools safe," Pearson commented.

Although getting vaccinated means a shot in the arm, Pearson's oldest child Mackenzie said she doesn't mind. After seeing other members of her family suffer through the symptoms of swine flu, she welcomed the opportunity.

"I thought that was an awesome idea," she said. "Because I know I definitely don't want to get that."

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