Residents ask board to cancel student flu vaccination clinic, raise consent and liability concerns

Several members of the public used the board’s guest-comment period on Sept. 23 to urge the Nelson County Board of Education to cancel a proposed mass influenza vaccination clinic for students and staff, citing what they described as failures in informed consent, electronic disclosure systems and privacy protections. Commenters also warned of possible liability for the board and alleged risks from live-virus intranasal vaccines.

Why it matters: The comments asked the board to reconsider or cancel a planned clinic for students and staff, raised questions about how informed consent materials were provided, and urged district leaders to evaluate legal and procedural responsibilities related to school-sponsored vaccination events.

Public commenters included Sierra Hamm, who identified herself as a mother of four, a nurse and a member of a national health steering committee; Rosanna Conturo, a retired teacher; Kurt (last name not specified), who identified himself as an international health forensic analyst; Charles Michael (came late and spoke about oath of office); and others. Their concerns included claims that electronic informed-consent disclosures were not functioning, that families could not access risk and contraindication information, privacy and HIPAA questions about how vaccination status would be handled, and liability if injuries or other harm occurred. Commenters also claimed the physician group administering vaccines had received substantial research payments; those claims were made from the public podium and were not supported within the meeting record by documents entered into the official agenda packet.

Board response and process notes: Board leaders acknowledged the comments, noted that state law does not mandate influenza vaccination, and said the district “doesn't mandate vaccines” and follows state law. The board indicated it would work with the director of nursing to review and report back on the details raised about consent and program administration.

Ending: The board asked members of the public to provide any printed materials and said staff email addresses are listed on the district website for follow-up. The district said the director of nursing would review comments and report back to the board.