Guilford High closes over H1N1 outbreak

Guilford (WTNH) - There is no school today at Guilford High. So many kids are out sick that administrators canceled weekend activities and canceled classes for today and tomorrow.

"Our teachers will be off, our students will be off," Guilford Superintendent Dr. Thomas Forcella said.

Meanwhile, Gov. Jodi Rell is not happy about how the federal government is handling the H1N1 vaccination program.

42% of students were out sick Friday. Most either have the H1N1 virus or are afraid they'll get the swine flu so they stayed home.

In all, 469 high school students stayed home last week. Officials are keeping and eye on the middle and elementary schools too, but so far they are keeping those open.

Not everyone has tested positive for H1N1, but the district says because the disease spread so quickly, the majority of the sick students likely have the virus. To try to slow down the spread of the illness, the superintendent decided shutting down the high school was the best option.

"We will make the day up, more than likely at the end of the school year," Superintendent Forcella said.

Gov. Jodi Rell says she sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. She wants the feds to overhaul the system for producing and distributing flu vaccines. Not just the swine flu vaccine, but the seasonal flu shot as well.

"The problem comes in, frankly for us, is that back in July federal officials told us there would be 160 million doses of the H1N1 available nationwide, and by this month we were told actually there is only 30 million doses. So you see ... that's a huge drop from what we were expecting."

Speaking on Good Morning Connecticut Monday, Gov. Rell said Connecticut was expecting 500,000 doses, but has received about a quarter of that amount.

"We were told we would get 500,000 doses. We've lined up every health care official we could find, arranged for clinics, called in the (Visiting Nurses Association) and others who are helping in doing the vaccinations, and expecting 500,000 ready to go, as of Friday we had 126,500," the governor said.

Secretary Sebelius said Monday the vaccine for the swine flu virus "is coming out the door as fast as it comes off the production line."