NYC students offered free swine flu vaccines

Public and private New York City students -- numbering over a million -- will be offered free swine flu vaccines in an effort to prevent the second, more serious, wave of the virus that is expected to hit this coming fall.

According to Salon, the vaccine should be available in mid- to late October -- most likely as a nasal mist -- after it's tested and deemed safe and effective.

Smaller states, such as Maine and Alabama, are planning to offer vaccines as well, but many large areas are waiting for direction from their state health departments as to how to run their vaccine clinics. Perhaps once the largest school district in the country is effectively administered free vaccines, other major cities will follow suit. However, some cities, like Boston and Dallas, have already rejected school vaccinations altogether.

But people in New York City have a more prevalent fear of the swine flu than those in, say, Boston. New York was the first large city in the country to have such an alarming number of infected people, shutting down entire schools and claiming more than 50 of the 500 nationwide swine flu-related deaths.

A White House report estimates up to half of the U.S. population could be infected this time around. But, of course, if proper measures are taken to contain the virus -- such as staying home when sick and perhaps getting a vaccine -- then there's no reason to stress.

Will you be getting a swine flu vaccine? Will your kids?