Hawaii has won a national award for bringing a flu shot program into the public schools.

Last year, the public school system was the first in the nation to implement a statewide program that provided free flu shots to more than 60,000 elementary and middle school students, as well as 9,000 faculty and staff members.

The "Protect Hawaii's Keiki: Stop Flu at School" program improved community flu vaccine rates and won the state the Immunization Excellence Award for Overall 2007-2008 Season Activity at the National Influenza Vaccine Summit.