OXFORD — The second and last doses of H1N1 vaccine are being administered to Oxford Hills School District students.

“Hebron (Elementary School students) has already had their second dose. The rest is soon to come,” Superintendent Mark Eastman told the Oxford Hills School District Board of Directors at its meeting Monday.

The vaccines are being administered to students under the age of 8 as a “booster” shot for those already vaccinated with the first round to ensure the vaccine is effective. Last month, the Oxford Hills School District completed its first round of H1N1 vaccine clinics for some 1,800 students who received shots or mist spray vaccinations.

Oxford Hills School District was one of the first districts in the state to have students vaccinated against H1N1 this fall.

Only one school in the district has been shut down due to a high rate of students with flu-like symptoms so far this flu season. Eastman said the Otisfield Elementary School had a nearly 30 percent absentee rate the week of Thanksgiving. So the school was shut down the day before Thanksgiving, when all schools were scheduled to have only a half-day of classes, based on the nursing staff’s recommendation.

“It was a good preemptive move,” Eastman said. The absentee rates have now leveled off to less than 10 percent, which is typical of absentee rates during flu season, he said.

In September, 1,400 students, or 30 percent of the study body, district wide received the seasonal flu vaccine. A total of 200 students had to receive as second dose of the seasonal flu because they were under the age of nine and had not had the seasonal flu before, school officials said at the time.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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