Preparing for a School-Located COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic

Park, Katherine; Cartmill, Rebecca; Johnson-Gordon, Belinda; Landes, Mary; Malik, Karen; Sinnott, Jane; Wallace, Kathy; Wallin, Robin

School-located vaccination events (SLVE) have a long history in the United States and have successfully contributed to lower morbidity and mortality due to vaccine-preventable diseases. The school is an ideal place to reach children from all cultures, socioeconomic groups, and age-groups and is conveniently situated in communities for ease of accessibility for students, parents, and staff alike. School nurses play an important role in planning for SLVE and are ideally positioned to initiate this process and provide accurate information, dispelling myths about vaccines. Because school nurses are considered a trusted source of health information by the school community, they can provide valuable education on the impact of vaccination on student and staff attendance. Conducting a successful SLVE requires research, planning, and partnerships, and these partnerships are needed both within the school setting and outside this setting, within the community at large. The proliferation of the current COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent vaccine production has caused school nurses to take the lead in preparing for mass vaccination clinics in order to help mitigate this serious public health threat. This manuscript describes the process a group of school nurses used to develop SLVE plans in response to a pandemic.