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Warrick Co. taking vaccines to schools

By Becky Graham - bio | email | Twitter
Posted by Sarah Harlan - email

WARRICK CO., IN (WFIE) - Some Warrick County students lined up Wednesday, not only for lunch, but also the H1N1 vaccine.  

Nurses with the Warrick County Health Department traveled to three different schools in Tennyson, Elberfeld and Lynnville armed with the H1N1 nasal mist.  

The health department received their first batch of the H1N1 nasal mist.

They thought giving school children the first shots would be the most effective distribution method.

They were right.

Around 200 kids were H1N1 vaccinated, and many more will have the opportunity when the next batch arrives.

They've got it down to a science, minutes after arriving at a Warrick County school, nurses were ready to vaccinate.

"We started out not sure, but it worked out real well with all the good help, and it's been a good day," Kathy Manning, a nurse with the Warrick Co. Health Department said.

In 30 minutes, 55 Tennyson Elementary students were protected from the H1N1 virus.

This brings Wednesday's grand-total of kids vaccinated in Warrick County schools just below 200.

"We started at Elberfeld Elementary and did approximately 80 shots there, did around 50 there, so it's going real well," Manning said.

These three northern Warrick County schools are the first to receive the nasal mist.

Other schools are expected to participate as soon as more vaccines become available.

"All the other schools have their forms, and they're starting to come in, and we'll set up clinics as we go," Manning said.

But Wednesday's clinics should ease the mind of hesitant parents and students.

This vaccination is quick and painless.

"Some of the them have been a little hesitant, but once they see it, and see the process start they've done real well," Manning said.

Holding H1N1 clinics at all of these schools is going to take a lot of man-power.

That's why the Warrick County Health Department is asking the public to volunteer.

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