According to Superintendent Dr. Michael Murphy, it was simply because of low school attendance that day.

Murphy said that the school was receiving a rush on flu shot requests even after last week's deadline for consent forms.

He said there were a few parents changing their minds, opting out of the free immunizations, but he said the large discrepancy in expected inoculations and the number actually given was simply because many of those students didn't go to school Monday.

Murphy said attendance at school had been on a slow climb over the past few weeks and didn't have any information on the sudden drop.

"In one building it'll be down in terms of attendance and in another building will normal," he said. "We like to run as high as 97 percent attendance, but it's not going to be that high in flu season. Where we've been hurt is that early on this year we're normally running 96-plus percent and we were down there in the high 80s."

However, the 400 shots that students did receive went smoothly, he said.
Bev Glosemeyer, director of operations at Patents First, said the students behaved very well during the day.

"The kids are behaving amazingly well," she said. "We really have been very lucky that we haven't had anyone who's been very problematic. They've been troopers."

On Monday, Patients First had stations in the high school and elementary school. Students would come to the cafeteria by class and wait for their name to be called.

Glosemeyer said student paperwork had been prepared and nurses confirmed information with the students before giving them the shot.

In most cases, if the student had asthma, they had to get a traditional needle shot. If not, they were offered the nasal shot.

Glosemeyer said St. Clair was the first large school district in the county the Patients First crew has done. Previously, they'd given shots at New Haven, Lonedell, and several other schools.

Sullivan, Union, Washington and others are next on their schedule.

Glosemeyer said Patients First works closely with the Franklin County Health Department on scheduling the inoculation days depending on need and shot supply.

Murphy said the high school could still become an inoculation center for the city if the health department determines there is more of a need for widespread vaccinations. Right now, he said, the health department is focusing on keeping young people well.