Howard County parents who relied on in-school vaccination clinics for their children’s flu and COVID-19 shots will need to look elsewhere this fall.

Parents and guardians recently received a “Health & Safety Updates” email advising them that “due to extenuating circumstances” the school system would not be offering in-school seasonal flu or COVID vaccination clinics this year.

The school system encouraged parents and guardians to contact their child’s pediatrician, look out for free clinics offered by the county health department or seek out a jab from a local pharmacy, retail store or urgent care facility.

Ana Maldonado had opted for her high school-aged children to receive vaccines at the in-school clinics because of the convenience.

But as soon as she found out the clinics were canceled, she went to a local pharmacy instead.

While Maldonado had a relatively easy time ensuring her children were vaccinated, she felt there wasn’t enough communication from the school system about the change.

“I don’t even think parents know that the school system isn’t doing the clinics this season,” Maldonado said.

The school system previously used available grant funding to cover the cost of the clinics, said spokesperson Brian Bassett. But this year, it wasn’t secured.

The cancellation of the clinics is the result of “an unfortunate series of events taking place,” said Lisa M. de Hernández, a spokeswoman for the Howard County health department.

In past years, the Maryland Department of Health partnered with the Maryland Partnership for Prevention — the state’s adult immunization coalition — to coordinate the school-based vaccination clinics.

Accessing its immunization grant from the state health department, county health officials would provide the necessary funding to the school system to secure a vaccine vendor. The state health department drew on federal coronavirus pandemic relief funds.

But then those federal funding sources dried up, and the Maryland Department of Health ended its deal with the Maryland Partnership for Prevention.

Last year, the county health department provided $195,000 in grant funding to the school system for both flu and COVID shots, according to Board of Education of Howard County documents. The previous year, the school system received $185,000 in grant money.

As of now, the school system’s health services office has not made a decision on whether to have clinics next year, Bassett said.

Howard County students and their families who wish to receive the flu vaccine can do so at one of the health department’s targeted community clinics. No registration is required.

The flu vaccine clinics are located in ”the areas of highest need,” de Hernández said.

The first of at least 14 community clinics takes place from 2:30-4:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 2, at Owen Brown Place in Columbia.

“Anecdotally, I would imagine that we would get a higher number of people coming to the clinics,” de Hernández said. “I would hope parents would still be interested enough and come to these clinics.”

The changes come amid a changing landscape for COVID vaccines in President Donald Trump’s second term. A federal advisory panel last month declined to make specific recommendations for the vaccines, creating uncertainty about their availability and how they would be paid for.

Last month, Maryland Health Secretary Dr. Meena Seshamani sought to reassure state residents that vaccines for COVID-19 should be widely available, despite the federal government’s shifting guidance over the vaccine’s latest rollout. Seshamani issued a blanket prescription for all Marylanders to receive the vaccine if they want it.

Maldonado suspects the vaccination rate will decline among the county’s youths without the school-based clinics.

The cancellation, she added, “translates into the current [Trump] administration not making it easy for children to get vaccinated.”