On Nov. 13, the Sun Journal editorial board criticized the Auburn School Department for not starting its H1N1 flu vaccine clinics as quickly as the Lewiston School Department.

I believe the real story is that both schools, along with the vast majority of their peers in Maine, have stepped up to the plate to offer their students H1N1 vaccine. This public health service has not been offered in schools in decades, yet the rapid response and substantial efforts put forth by both Auburn and Lewiston schools have been truly remarkable.

About 95 percent of schools are expected to have offered H1N1 vaccine in a four-week period that ends before Thanksgiving.

These school vaccine efforts, no matter which week they were started, will improve the health of the community as it faces this pandemic, which is expected to circulate for many months to come.

In each community, it has taken numerous partners to make school vaccinations successful — school administrators and boards, school nurses, parents and local health care providers. All are to be commended and congratulated. Recently, Dr. Tom Frieden, the director of U.S. Center for Disease Control, mentioned Maine’s school-based efforts as a beacon of success.

As more vaccine supplies arrive that are appropriate for preschool-age children and high-risk adults, I hope communities use the same spirit of collaboration for the school-age population and apply it to assuring that other vulnerable people are offered vaccine as well.

Together, we will weather this pandemic.

Dora Anne Mills, MD, MPH, Augusta

Director, Maine CDC/DHHS