Poor Response to H1N1 Vaccination Drive in Saudi Schools

19th December 2009 RIYADH/JEDDAH: As the stage is set to launch a national swine flu vaccination campaign among students by the Ministry of Health on Saturday, a lukewarm response has been reported from parents and guardians who have to signify their consent for the inoculation.

Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal will inaugurate the provincial level campaign while Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majed will launch the campaign in the Jeddah governorate, director of primary health care centers in Jeddah Dr. Nuha Dashash told Arab News.

Last week, the Ministry of Education sent out 10 million forms to parents and guardians of the 30,000 national and government schools throughout the Kingdom to obtain the guardians’ consent.

A principal of a primary school in Riyadh’s Aziziyah district told Arab News that the response from the parents has been very poor. The principal who did not want his name or his school to be mentioned said that only six parents consented to the vaccination out of the 400 forms sent out to them.

A teacher in a school in the capital with a majority of foreign children said she gave 30 forms to the parents of children in her classroom and only seven agreed to the vaccine. She attributed the poor response to lack of awareness among parents about the importance of this vaccination.

A primary Saudi schoolteacher told Arab News that the parents are hesitant to give the vaccine to their children in fear of side effects. “They have unreasonable fear.” Health Ministry spokesman Dr. Khalid Al-Mirghalani said that there is no cause for alarm.

“The vaccine is just like another seasonal flu dose,” he said. “We are not forcing the parents to take these doses for their children, but we strongly advise them to do so as a preventive measure.”

He indicated that the side effects of the vaccine are not different from those that occur from other vaccines given during childhood. The possible post-vaccination effects include a dull pain, redness or swelling on the injection site, headache simple, or muscle pain or high temperature and nausea. The vaccination should not be administered on persons who are allergic to poultry products since the vaccine is produced using eggs.

Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah launched the vaccination campaign early last month at a function where his 10-year-old daughter received the dose along with other senior health officials who were scheduled to work during the Haj. Every school has been informed of the day allocated for them, according to the official spokesman of the local Education Department, Raja Al-Sulami.

Meanwhile, Director of Foreign Schools in Jeddah Muhammad Hassan said that his office did not receive any instruction from the Health Affairs Department or the Education Department concerning the vaccination campaign.

“All I know about the campaign is what appeared in the local newspapers.” Muhammad Humaidan & Mohammed Rasooldeen