Few students getting swine flu vaccines

Twenty-four Evergreen Elementary School students on Monday were the first to receive the swine flu vaccines in Boundary County School District.

Naples Elementary School students were scheduled to get the vaccines on Tuesday and Valley View Elementary on Wednesday.

So far, 35 out of 360 students at Boundary County Middle School have returned permission slips to get the vaccine on Oct. 29, said principal Dick Behrens.

At Bonners Ferry High School, 30 out of 527 students have turned in their paperwork for their Nov. 3 vaccines, said principal Curt Randall-Bayer.

Boundary County School District a few weeks ago sent permission slips home to 1,600 students for the vaccine.

The low numbers aren’t alarming, said Cynthia Taggart, spokeswoman for Panhandle Health District in Coeur d’Alene. The agency is administering the free vaccines.

“It’s really early,” Taggart said Monday. “The school next door to us had the vaccinations today. We had almost 600 students and 185 had turned in permission slips by the end of the day Friday. This morning, another 60 turned them in.”

The number of students who received vaccines at Evergreen represented 25 percent of the student body, said principal Jim Nash. Siblings of students, staff and adults also got shots, putting the total at 54.

“It went as smooth as cake,” Nash said. “Things went really well.”

Nash, who is also the principal at Naples, expected similar numbers there.

Behrens said he really didn’t know what to expect in the way of numbers.

“It’s still nearly two weeks away,” he said. “They can turn (in permission slips) until Oct. 26. I know there’s a lot of people who are concerned and worried about the unknown right now.”

“I had anticipated more actually,” Randall Bayer said. “I think they think they can just walk in that  day.”