Qatar begins school flu vaccination drive

Qatar began its nationwide flu immunisation drive for school children on Wednesday with pupils at independent schools the first to receive the vaccine.

Almost all consent forms sent to parents with children at independent schools across the country have returned them, Dr Ayman Diab, head of the outbreak and surveillance unit of the Supreme Council of Health (SCH), told Gulf Times.

But, he could not say how many pupils will receive the seasonal flu vaccine, nor how many school medical teams will visit.

“The Supreme Council of Education (SEC) has directed us to begin vaccinating students of the independent schools and a number of private schools as they already have substantial number of students willing to accept the vaccines,” Diab told the paper.

Many parents are skeptical about the benefits of anti-influenza drugs and are confusing the drive with being for swine flu.

At MES Indian School, the largest Asian expatriate school in Qatar, about half of the 10,000 students will have the seasonal flu vaccine, the principal told the paper.

The vaccination drive is for seasonal flu only and does not protect against swine flu, officials said.

“Many parents think that this vaccination is against H1N1, which is not true. We will be organising face to face meetings with parents in selected schools as part of efforts to eliminate such misunderstandings. We are also launching an awareness campaign through the media,” Jassim Fakhroo, director of communication and media at the Supreme Council of Health told the Peninsula.

Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) closed the Al Mutanabi Secondary School on Tuesday after suspected cases of swine flu were reported there.

Initially six classrooms were shut before the Abu Dhabi Health Authority decided to close the entire school. Classes will resume on Sunday, officials said.

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