As peak flu season approaches, this year’s dominant flu strain has been predicted to result in more severe symptoms than strains prevalent in previous years.
Research shows that flu vaccinations can help prevent hospitalizations and further infections. In Rhode Island, a partnership between the Rhode Island Department of Education, the Rhode Island Department of Health and the Wellness Company — an immunization and health services organization — aims to increase cost-free access to vaccines for students, faculty, staff and community members.
The partnership “really benefits everyone, most importantly, students and families who are getting protection against some serious illnesses,” said RIDOH spokesperson Joseph Wendelken. “Vaccines are an enormously beneficial public health tool, and we want to make them as accessible to the community as possible.”
In the 2025-26 school year, 11,000 people received flu shots in school clinics across Rhode Island, Wendelken told The Herald.
Statewide vaccination efforts via local schools began in 2001, when RIDOH launched the Vaccinate Before You Graduate Program to ensure students were fully vaccinated for Hepatitis B in their senior year.
While these clinics initially only served high school seniors, they expanded in 2010 to provide vaccines to high school students at all grade levels. In 2015, the clinics grew further to middle schools.
Since then, the program has expanded to 191 vaccine clinics throughout Rhode Island, with 27 operated out of public schools in Providence, according to Wendelken. These clinics now offer 12 types of vaccines, including flu shots, Hepatitis A and B vaccinations and COVID-19 booster shots.
The program “has grown slowly, and each time it’s expanded, it’s because people have recognized that there’s a real benefit to communities, to families, to students and to schools,” Wendelken said.“When kids are vaccinated, they have fewer days of school missed, they’re in the classroom more and are learning.”
“It’s always good to have different opportunities to reach people in non-clinical settings,” said Adjunct Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences Amy Nunn, who also serves as executive director of the Rhode Island Public Health Institute.
The vaccination clinics start at the beginning of the school year and last until Thanksgiving break, though Wendelken noted that families can coordinate with RIDOH or their school nurse on an individual basis if students still need to receive vaccinations later in the year.
The clinics ensure “access to potentially life-saving vaccines available to everyone throughout the community, regardless of insurance status, regardless of the ability to pay, regardless of the language people speak,” Wendelken said.
