H1N1 vaccines coming 
to Lee County schools

Lee County Health Department has set up H1N1 clinics with all districts in the county – Dixon, Paw Paw, Amboy, Franklin Center, and Nelson – as well as with private schools, including St. Mary School and St. Anne Elementary in Dixon, officials said.

Clinics will begin in October, as soon as the county receives its first shipment of vaccines, said Cathy Ferguson, health department administrator.

The last round of follow-up shots, for kids 10 and younger, will be held in December.

Ferguson isn’t sure how many students might sign up for the free vaccinations – although she hopes all will – but said she’s not concerned about running out of or ordering too many shots.

The health department has ordered as many as it can hold, and will order more each week as needed.

Dixon Public School District has posted information about the clinics and about H1N1 on its Web site, www.dixonschools.org, but will not send out packets in the mail until Wednesday, Superintendent Mike Juenger said.

Parents will be able to opt their children in or out of the shots, and also will be able to dictate whether the shots are administered in their presence.

“We are not necessarily endorsing – we are taking no position on whether a child should get vaccinated,” Juenger said. “We are just providing a place for that to occur.”