Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Sweet Home High School students will be among the first students in Linn County to participate in a new Health Department program Thursday when they are vaccinated against the flu.
Approximately 260 students are signed up to participate in the program, which will primarily use the FluMist product, said Tammy McCoy, Linn County supervising public health nurse.
“Rather than a shot, it’s a mist that is sprayed up into the nose,” McCoy said. It uses a weakened virus rather than a dead virus, like a shot. That means that it should only be used by persons between 2 and 49 years old. It also cannot be used by persons with other health problems, such as asthma.
The county will have shots available for those who cannot use the FluMist.
School staff will also have the option of receiving the vaccination, although most will have had an opportunity on Tuesday, before Linn County arrives on the site.
FluMist has the advantages of simply not being a shot, and the county was able to get it from the state for a program like this, McCoy said.
Three Linn County schools are participating in the program, including Sweet Home, Central Linn and Scio high schools, she said. “We’re just kind of seeing how it goes this year.”
A similar program is in its second year in Marion County, McCoy said. This is the first time Linn County has had a program to vaccinate students.
The last several years, Linn County has tried to target people, such as the homeless, who don’t have access to flu vaccines, McCoy said. The county also has provided vaccinations for its own employees. Toward the end of the season, the county has opened it up to others.
The county hopes to see some kind of change in attendance rates this year, she said, to “see if it made any difference in kids getting sick versus staying healthy.”
Students also are a large population that is often thought of as a disease spreader, McCoy said.
The county, based on the School Board’s requirement, is getting permission from parents to vaccinate the students.
Linn County health staffers will be at the high school at 8:30 a.m. and will begin administering the vaccine at 9 a.m., McCoy said. The students will be sent 20 to 25 at a time, and four nurses will administer the FluMist.
“Our hope is to be done by noon,” she said. Most of the paperwork is already out of the way.