SPRINGDALE — Three weeks to the day that the first shots were given, the Springdale School District will finish its flu vaccination clinics for students on Monday.

Friday marked the last day of the program, with seasonal flu shots and H1N1 vaccines being administered at Elmdale Elementary School, John Tyson Elementary School and Westwood Elementary School.

Shots will be given at Thurman G. Smith Elementary School and Hunt Elementary School on Monday.

"It's going very smoothly," Tyson Assistant Principal Shannon Passmore said.

The Arkansas Department of Health offered the vaccines as part of a statewide initiative to vaccinate children through public schools. The vaccines are provided free to students.

Springdale nurse supervisor Barbara Ludwig did not have an exact count of how many students had gotten vaccinated through the clinics, but a majority of the district's 18,000 students participated. The seasonal flu shot was also provided to employees.

"At most schools, we've had over 75 percent," she said. "I think as we go along, there's less fear of (the vaccine)."

The seasonal flu vaccine is administered via a shot in the arm. The vaccine for H1N1, or swine flu, is a nasal mist.

Ludwig said they have some H1N1 shots for students who have health problems, such as asthma, that prevent them from receiving the nasal mist.

Springdale was the first school district in the county to offer the program. It started on Oct. 19 at Har-Ber High School and Shaw Elementary School, with clinics held in other schools on various days ever since.

Tyson Elementary School teacher Maureen Brogdon said she was glad the state offered the program through the schools.

"I think it's awesome," she said. "It's so hard for some parents to find the time to do this."

Ludwig said preparing for the clinics was challenging, but since they started, there haven't been many complications.

The health department is also offering the flu shot clinics to private schools that have requested them.

St. Raphael Catholic School in Springdale is scheduled to offer flu shots for its students on Dec. 10, Principal Karen LaMendola said.

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