HB 1249 Summary

• Requires each county health department to develop a school-located influenza vaccination program, subject to available funding, to offer free vaccinations to public and nonpublic school children.

• Authorizes county health departments to contract with local health care practitioners or private entities to administer the program and mandates appointment of a part-time school staff person as an influenza immunization coordinator at each school, with compensation provided by the county health department.

• Requires all school-located influenza vaccination programs to use a standardized parental consent form approved by the Department of Health, with participating schools submitting annual reports on enrollment, consent forms returned, parental consent given, and students immunized.

• Mandates the University of Florida Emerging Pathogens Institute to provide training and support for immunization coordinators, conduct formative and summative evaluations of immunization rates and program impact on influenza illness, and share evaluation data with county health departments, the Department of Health, and the public.

• Effective date is July 1, 2014.