Free Tdap clinics for students

A new school-immunization law requiring all students entering seventh through 12th grade during the upcoming school year to be immunized against pertussis before school starts — or by Jan. 1, 2012, if newly-introduced Senate Bill 614 passes — has school officials anxious to get the majority, if not all, of the vaccinations completed before school starts on Aug. 15.

That is why Porterville Unified School District has been offering free Tdap vaccination clinics from 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays on a first-come, first-served status at the district office, 600 W. Grand Ave.

At the last clinic, close to 100 students showed up but the majority of them were properly vaccinated, said school nurse and public health nurse Christy Clark.

“We ended up seeing about 51 students,” Clark said. “We expected a lot more, it’s been a little slow for us. There are an approximate 8,000 students in general who need it.”

Since the clinics began, approximately 300 students from all areas have been vaccinated.
“We are not limiting it to Porterville schools,” Clark said. “The vaccine is from Tulare County. We have this open to Burton students, Strathmore, Springville, everyone.”

According to Allison Lambert, spokesperson for Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency, there is no shortage of the vaccine. The availability for those on medical or with no insurance is unlimited. However, for students who are on the Healthy Families program or who have free insurance, those free amounts are limited.

Working at the clinics are two current and three graduates of Porterville High School Health Academy — Edith Morillon, Itzel Silva, Claudia Medrano, Veronica Meza and Jairo Ceballos.

The five students are paid interns through the Porterville Unified School District Pathway’s summer program.

“They have been great. They keep things organized and keep things flowing and are available to interpret for us,” Clark said. “And as soon as we are done with the clinic, they input the shots into the computer system faster than we ourselves could possibly do.”

The students are also benefitting, said Ruben Alvarez, work base long coordinator and project manager with PUSD Pathways who was responsible for placing 120 student interns in the community.

“With this the medical students have an opportunity to be exposed to an important phase in the medical field dealing with maintaining patient privacy,” Alvarez said. “Our original plan was to rotate them through but because of the amount of clients every day, we decided to keep the five of them on board. They’re needed for the session.”

The five students spent two days training prior to working at the clinics.

“Basically they told us all about it and what we can do, helping the students and being better equipped with what they expected of us,” said Ceballos, a biology major at University of California, Merced who plans to apply at medical school.

Ceballos, a recent PHS graduate who attended PHS Academy of Health, said he rotated through several hospitals and different clinics gaining experience.

“This is the same setting, but a different atmosphere. It’s still professionally done and we work hard keeping the rhythm going and keeping everything updated,” Ceballos said. “I’ve been enjoying it. I have a passion for the medical field.”

The free clinics continue from 3 to 6 p.m. each Wednesday through Aug. 3 at the PUSD district office.

In addition, daily free immunization clinics will continue from 3 to 6 p.m. Aug. 8, 9, 10 and 11. The locations for those dates will be announced soon, Clark said.

Students must be accompanied by a parent and parents are asked to arrive with the student’s immunization record. Proof of insurance is not required, but the parents will be asked what type of insurance they have.

Contact Esther Avila at 784-5000, Ext. 1045, or eavila@portervillerecorder.com.