IE school kids get free H1N1 vaccination

BANNING, Calif. (KABC) -- Riverside County public health workers started administering free swine flu vaccines to school children in Banning on Monday.

Katherine Farfan, 5, was one of the first students in Riverside County to be vaccinated for the swine flu.

Any student at Central Elementary, who had a signed permission slip, got the vaccination that will hopefully prevent them from getting the H1N1 flu.

Farfan received the flu mist instead of the shot and said it wasn't that bad.

"It felt like water and it tickled," said Farfan.

Approximately 150 students took advantage of the flu vaccine at the school on Monday. The health department will be going to other schools in the Banning Unified School District later this week.

"This is an incredible opportunity for the parents because we're coming right to where the students are," said Joan Danfifer from the Riverside County Community Health Agency, Department of Public Health. "So this is an opportunity for them to be protected against the swine flu virus."

So why was this school the first in the county to have a clinic? The county says the Banning Unified School District was the first district to step forward. BUSD Assistant Superintendent Gordon Fischer says it was an easy decision.

"It's a chance for them to get something that's probably needed, and do it for free," said Fischer.

The county health department is expecting 300,000 doses of the vaccine. That should be enough to vaccinate all Riverside County students 12 years and younger -- the target population.

But it's up to each individual school district and ultimately each parent whether or not their student actually gets the vaccine.

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inland empire news, rob mcmillan

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