For the eighth year, Knox County Health Department (KCHD) is again partnering with the Knox County School System, private schools, Head Starts, child care facilities, and local partners in Knox County to offer influenza vaccinations in the school setting to eligible children ages 6 months to 19 years of age living in Knox County, Tennessee. You may access the school clinic schedules through a link on this page to find the date for your child's school. FluMist intranasal vaccine will be offered in our school-located clinics.

Working together with Knox County Schools and parents, KCHD has vaccinated more than 47 percent of the eligible children over the past seven influenza seasons. This collaborative effort has created a healthier community and helped to keep our children in school and schools open. This year, the goal is to vaccinate at least 55 percent of the eligible children in Knox County. There are some changes to this year's program.

1. In an effort to find a method to sustain this program, KCHD is exploring and implementing some new initiatives.
   1. First, KCHD will bill your insurance company for the cost for the administration of the vaccine and, if appropriate, the vaccine.
   2. School participating in the program are donating money to cover the costs of children who do not have insurance or can't afford the cost of vaccination.
   3. Parents and others may donate money to the program. If you are interested in donating money to the program, please follow this link KCHD-MDC FluMist Donation site.
2. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that vaccine naive children (definition is below) receive two doses of vaccine. If your child is identified as vaccine naive, please go to your provider, the Health Department, or an organization that provides influenza vaccinations for their second dose four weeks after the initial dose. If you chose to take your child to the Health Department, the vaccination will be provided at no cost. Vaccine naive is defined as any child under the age of 9 who has not received two doses of vaccine since July 2010.
3. If your child is home schooled, please attend a vaccination clinic hosted in your designated school or go to one of the Health Department locations.

If your child has a contraindication (medical reason why the intra-nasal vaccination is not recommended) to FluMist or does not attend a hosting location, please bring your child to any health department location for a free influenza injectable vaccination.

If you have questions about influenza vaccination, we encourage you to:

1. Contact your healthcare provider,
2. Ask your school nurse,
3. Go to www.cdc.gov, or
4. Review the information on our website.