A walk-in centre will be held at Nelson College with students under 16 required to have parental consent. Photo / Supplied
The first community vaccination clinics to be held at a school for students and the community will go ahead in Nelson next week.
A walk-in centre will be held at Nelson College, with students under 16 required to have parental consent.
The clinic is being managed by the Nelson-Marlborough District Health Board and is open to all members of the public. It will run on Tuesday and Thursday next week.
School principal Richard Dykes told the Herald they were approached by the health board and asked if they could facilitate a centre.
"It's their responsibility, it's their programme, we are just literally providing some space for them to do it.
"The fact that it is on-site means it's accessible to our students but we are not actively promoting it, we also aren't not promoting it."
Nelson College students under 16-years-old who wish to be vaccinated will need consent from their parents to do so. Although this is not a legal requirement, Dykes said it is their preference.
"We thought it was important in building trust with whānau and the community that we were upfront about this happening. I don't think parents want to have any surprises."
The Ministry of Health could not provide information on other planned clinics at schools and directed all questions to the local district health boards.
Dykes said he has no idea how many students may get vaccinated next week.
"Our students are away on exams, I honestly don't know how many students will turn up. I hope lots."
He said they have chosen not to run the centre during class time and will not be incentivising it in any way.
Advice from the Ministry of Education says schools should promote public health advice about vaccinations but cannot make it a requirement for anyone to be vaccinated and should not pressure individuals to get a vaccine.
The clinics will be held outside of the main Nelson College building on September 28 and 30 between 3.15pm and 5pm.
It comes after case numbers spiked in May, June, July and again in September.