Pencils, Notebooks — and Flu Shots? After Last Year’s Deadly Flu Outbreak, Many Schools Are Building the Flu Vaccine into Their Back-To-Class Routine
September 4, 2018
By: Laura Fay
Source: The 74
Last year, a Houston principal told Gwendolyn Johnson, the district’s director of health and medical services, that he had a “project” for her.
“I want you to bring flu vaccines to my students,” the principal told her. The flu season had been tough on his family and the students in his care. More than 2,150 people died of flu-related causes in the Houston area last year, including 15 children, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Johnson made it happen. This fall, for the first time, the Houston Independent School District will give every student in the district the opportunity to get a free flu shot, regardless of whether they have insurance. The program is part of a partnership with Healthy Schools, a company that facilitates school-based healthcare.