With a couple of big sniffs and the cleansing dab of a tissue, Harrison Coffee and his sister, Tristen Coffee, became the first two of as many as 12,000 area children Scott and White officials hope will receive a free nasal flu vaccination this season.

Researchers at Scott and White and Baylor College of Medicine hope to vaccinate students this flu season as part of an ongoing study on reducing the spread of influenza in the general population by reducing its spread among school children first.

In the eighth year of the study, officials hope to inoculate children age 5 to 18 years old with the FluMist vaccine, a nasal spray which is an alternative to a flu shot. Children with a chronic illness that would preclude them from receiving the nasal spray may receive a free flu shot as part of the study.

After receiving the nasal spray on Thursday, Harrison Coffee, 6, said the experience was not bad at all.