ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — The permission slips went out last week, and Baldwin County Board of Education spokesman Terry Wilhite says, “We’ll find room” for Baldwin students in grades Pre-K through 3 to receive “Nasal Mist” protection from the H1N1 virus. The vaccine is given through the nose, and there is no need for a “shot.”

According to Jim McVay, spokesman for the Alabama Department of Public Health, the state expects to receive 90,000 doses of the vaccine.

“We are going to start with students in Pre-K through third grade,” said McVay.

While McVay says that nationally, the response rate to the vaccine has been “40 to 60 percent,” so the supply Alabama has should be adequate.

The inoculations for the new strain of influenza are being given to youngsters because they, unlike older people, have no experience with variations of the H1N1 virus.

I”t’s amazing,” said McVay, explaining that a person exposed to a form of the H1N1 virus a long time ago may not show antibodies to the illness in their blood, but somehow when the virus invades the body, the immune system “remembers” the invader and mounts an appropriate attack. Most adults have had “experience” with some form of the virus.

While the first dose of the vaccine will “provide some protection,” McVay says that youngsters will need a second dose of the vaccine, administered after Christmas.

While McVay says the vaccine is safe and effective, there are some, especially those with chronic illnesses, or a weakened immune system, who should not receive a dose. Information on that was sent home with the permission packets, but if someone has a question, it’s best McVay says, to consult their own physician.

“We’re in the 12th week of the influenza outbreak, said McVay, “and there are a great many young people suffering.”