This autumn, all young people aged 12-15 are being offered a first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at the same time as the annual flu vaccine, as part of the Government’s national effort. Students at Hans Price Academy started receiving their vaccines on Tuesday 28th September.
Children who were 12 years old and over on the day of the School Age Immunisation Service (SAIS) team visits, with the relevant parental consents in place, were offered a Covid-19 vaccination as part of the annual in-school vaccination programme.
Our local SAIS provider, Sirona Care & Health, is legally responsible for the delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine and the annual flu vaccine to pupils in our region of Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
Like all school-based vaccination programmes, these vaccinations are administered by Sirona Care & Health following their usual approach to school-based immunisation.
Parents and carers were contacted by the academy to confirm when the clinic would be held and to provide consent forms for both the flu and Covid-19 vaccines. The forms are processed solely by Sirona Care & Health and not by the academy.
Parents could provide consent for both the flu and the Covid-19 vaccine, for one or other of the vaccines or neither. Hans Price Academy is not be responsible for vaccines and so has no access to any of the consent data that was gathered.
All eligible pupils were asked to attend the clinic, where their consent data was checked by Sirona Care & Health staff. Pupils without the appropriate consents were not vaccinated.
Tony Searle Principal of Hans Price, said, “School-based immunisations are not a new thing. We have worked alongside the SAIS team and the NHS for many years to provide a space so they can immunise children against flu, HPV and Meningitis C, to name but a few over the years.
“We have continued this ongoing partnership working as they have introduced Covid-19 vaccinations into the programme this year.
“We understand that there are a wide range of views on vaccination and would like to reassure parents that children can only be vaccinated in school with consent from their parent.
“We welcome any opportunity to keep our young people, their families and our community safe. We hope that parents talked with their children and made informed choices as to whether vaccination against Covid-19 was the right thing for them and their family, using information from a wide range of reliable sources.”
To read the full story in the Weston Mercury click here.
