FAIRBANKS — A free swine flu vaccine will be made available to any school-age child living in the borough beginning Thursday.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District is working with the Fairbanks Public Health Clinic to host three separate shot clinics for parents who want to have a child vaccinated. The clinics are for children 4 to 18 years old.

The first shot clinic will be from 3-6:30 p.m. Thursday at North Pole Middle School. A second clinic will be from 3-6:30 p.m. Tuesday at West Valley High School. The final clinic will be at the same time Dec. 3 at Lathrop High School.

“These clinics are open to all school-age children; however, this is based on having vaccine available for the clinics,” said Maureen Kauleinamoku, the school district nursing coordinator. Children do not have to be students in the Fairbanks school district to receive a vaccine.

According to the state epidemiology division, one dose of the vaccine is sufficient for children ages 10 and older. Children ages 6 months to 9 years should receive a second dose about four weeks later. There is no charge for either dose of the vaccine at the clinics.

The school district will host additional shot clinics to ensure younger students receive the second dose of the vaccine.

Dates and times for those additional clinics have not been scheduled.

Five groups are given priority for the vaccine, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

These groups include pregnant women, people who live with or care for children younger than

6 months of age, health care and emergency medical personnel, anyone between

6 months and 24 years of age and people from ages 25 through 64 years who have chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems.

District officials said they wouldn’t turn anyone away if they have remaining vaccines once schoolchildren have been given the vaccine.

The district is not requiring the swine flu vaccine. Kauleinamoku said it is a decision that should be made by parents, but a swine flu memo on the district’s Web site states that “(v)accines are the best public health tool we have to control the spread of influenza, including the H1N1 swine flu. Once the vaccines are available in sufficient quantities, anyone who can be vaccinated should be.”

“If parents have concerns or questions about the vaccine, they should consult with their medical provider,” Kauleinamoku said.

More information about swine flu and seasonal influenza is available at the school district’s Web site, www.k12northstar.org.

Contact staff writer Rebecca George at 459-7504.