Phila. School Students Begin Receiving Swine Flu Vaccine

by KYW's Steve Tawa

The School District of Philadelphia on Monday began its free H1N1 ("swine") flu vaccination program.  And it's a big project.

There are 160,000 young people in the district, although about 20 percent of them are not eligible for the inoculation because of pre-existing medical conditions.

All told, about 27,000 students submitted written consent from their parents to receive the free Flu Mist nasal spray, according to the school district's Tomas Hanna:

"We will be done by November 6th.  There will be nine days of immunization."

Hanna says the intranasal vaccine is quite easy to administer compared to a shot, and children older than ten will probably only need a single dose:

"It's just a simple sniff."

Dr. Caroline Johnson is with the Philadelphia Department of Health:

"It goes into both nostrils -- a simple droplet into each side."

She says that younger students are expected to need two doses, whether it's a nasal spray or the injectable version.  There's a minimal interval of about a month between doses.

(File photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)