H1N1 vaccine offered in Columbia County schools

CHATHAM - Schools are ground zero when it comes to the H1N1 virus.

That's why the Columbia County Health Department is taking its allotment of the vaccine to classrooms across the county.

One hundred seventy-two of the 422 kids at Chatham Elementary got the shot Thursday.

Those who didn't either received it from their doctor or their parents decided against it.

For Christopher Gilder the temporary sting from this shot will be worth it in the long run if the third grader doesn't catch the swine flu.

"It was a little painful," Christopher said.

"Now I don't have to get sick," he added.

Chatham Elementary is just one of the schools where the county Health Department is holding its free H1N1 vaccine clinic. The thought is to get to the kids before the swine flu does.

"With any illness, when you bring large groups of children together they tend to infect each other and then bring it home and infect other people in the family," Chatham Superintendent Cheryl Nuciforo said.

Right now Chatham's absentee rate is 50 percent higher than usual. So clinics like this one are supposed to stop sickness before it gets any worse.

"Everyone understands the situation. So people are being patient and flexible as much as you can be," Nuciforo said.

Nurses from the county Health Department will be at Taconic Hills Friday.

If you didn't sign the consent form and the county Health Department hasn't been to your school yet it's not too late. The nurses were taking student walk-ins Thursday if they were accompanied by a parent.