LSU-Health Shreveport is helping parents by making it as convenient as possible to have children ages five to eleven get vaccinated at schools in north Louisiana. Hospital K-12 Engagement Coordinator Jennifer Deason said they already had established relationships with the schools when they did COVID testing, and now they are now providing vaccines.
“It just makes it that much more convenient; they want this done for their child and we’re going into the school setting and providing it in a safe controlled atmosphere,” said Deason.
To be vaccinated, Deason said all children must present a signed parental consent form and they are also taking another step to confirm parental or guardian permission.
“Once they get that paper form back, the school is calling each of the parents to confirm that they did sign and that they are giving consent for the shot,” said Deason.
After each injection students are observed by nurses for 15 minutes to see if they have any adverse reaction and for those students who have epi-pens they are observed for 30 minutes as a precaution.
Understandably, Deason said many of the children are apprehensive about getting a shot and so they try to ease their fears and even ask if they’ve ever been pinched by their sibling.
“Of course, I get 500 stories of how their siblings have pinched them and I’m like no worse than that and they’re like oh ok. So, then it kind of makes it a little bit more relatable,” said Deason.
They will visit schools in three weeks to follow up with a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine and also offer flu shots on second visits. Parental consent will be required once again.
Comments