CRESTVIEW — Okaloosa County high schools, middle schools and elementary schools are fighting influenza with help from three organizations.
The Florida Department of Health in Okaloosa County, Okaloosa County School District and Healthy Schools LLC, a health care access company that provides flu vaccines for students from VPK to 12th grade, are coordinating the “Teach Flu a Lesson" initiative.
Healthy Schools nurses will administer FluMist nasal spray immunizations — no shots — to students with completed parental consent forms in participating Okaloosa County public schools Nov. 13 and 17. Student participation is voluntary.
The organization will bill students’ insurance companies, with no deductibles and no out-of-pocket costs. Students on Medicaid or those uninsured will receive a vaccine at no cost.
Parents should be on the lookout for the consent form to come home with their students beginning this week.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that everyone aged 6 months and older annually receive a flu vaccine.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Flu-fighting nasal spray offered to Okaloosa students