Montgomery County health officials will hold two flu vaccination clinics for children ages 5 to 11 ONLY on Friday, October 20, a school holiday, from 9 a.m. to noon at Albert Einstein High School in Silver Spring and Gaithersburg High School in Gaithersburg.

The Maryland Elementary School Influenza Vaccination Program is making FluMist vaccine available free of charge to school children ages 5 to 11 to prevent seasonal flu. FluMist uses a weakened form of the virus to protect against flu and is administered as a nasal inhalant, not by injection.

This one-time opportunity for children ages 5 to 11 to receive free FluMist is part of a collaborative effort between state, federal, and local health agencies and Medimunne, the producers of FluMist.

Research shows that vaccinating children against seasonal flu protects them from getting the flu and reduces the spread of flu to others in the community. Healthy children over 5 years of age are eligible to take FluMist.

Vaccine will be given on a first-come, first-served basis to those meeting the age criteria. Albert Einstein High School is located at 11135 Newport Mill Road in Kensington, and Gaithersburg High School is located at 314 South Frederick Avenue in Gaithersburg. A parent, legal guardian, or designated adult must accompany children.

FluMist should NOT be given to children if they have the following contraindications:

Chronic or long-term illnesses involving the kidneys, heart, nervous system, brain, lungs (such as cystic fibrosis) or blood system (such as sickle cell anemia)
Diabetes
Asthma
Any condition treated with medicine containing aspirin
History of Guillain-Barre syndrome
Severe allergy to egg products, gentamicin, or previous flu vaccine
Live with someone with a weakened immune system (such as bone marrow transplant, cancer treatment or AIDS patient)
Received any live vaccine in the past month
Scheduled to receive any live vaccine in the month following FluMist vaccination.

For more information about these clinics, please call 240-777-1050.