JEDDAH: The Health Department in Jeddah has confirmed that few students have turned up for H1N1 vaccinations. The picture is less clear, however, in the case of rehabilitation centers for disabled children in Jeddah.
Arab News visited the Girls Rehabilitation Center in Jeddah and the supervisor for the Makkah region, Laila Jameel, said there were 157 disabled residents at the center and that 42 had taken the vaccination.
According to the manager of the center, Aziza Al-Shihri, of the 157 residents there are only 8 orphans who took the shots because the Ministry of Social Affairs had ordered managers of the rehabilitation centers to sign the approval on their behalf.
“In the case of orphans or what we call people in special circumstances, the ministry said the guardian in their case would be the head of the center who should sign the approval on their behalf,” explained Jameel. Al-Shihri, who chose not to give her own children the vaccination, had to sign on behalf of the orphans in her center.
The remaining residents are still waiting for their parents’ approval. Al-Shihri explained that even if one parent approves giving a shot to his/her child, the center had to wait until 9 others received approval because the vaccine has to be divided among 10 persons. Asked if any of the residents had experienced any complications due to the vaccinations, she said they only suffered fever and fatigue, which she said was “normal after taking any injection.”
The Girls Rehabilitation Center, under the supervision of the Ministry of Social Affairs, accepts disabled children of both sexes until the age of 12 and girls of all ages who suffer both physical and mental disabilities.
Husain Mugarbil, the manager of the Rehabilitation Center for Boys in Jeddah, said that the Ministry of Health had provided them with 250 doses of vaccine, adding that the center had 242 residents whose ages range from 12 to over 50.
Mugarbil said that they had been asked not to give the vaccinations unless there was approval from the residents’ male guardians. He said, “The problem is that some male guardians are old and cannot come here while others are ill and some do not even live in Jeddah.”
He said they have given shots to orphans with disabilities and to other residents whose male guardians visited the center during the Haj break. Mugarbil said that parents were not giving approval and that so far, they had given shots to only 30 residents.
