The St. Mary's County Board of County Commissioners voted May 19 to use emergency funds to buy seasonal flu vaccine for public elementary school students and to acquire a small local stock of the antiviral drug Tamiflu.

Commissioners approved a budget amendment to spend $45,000 to pre-purchase seasonal influenza vaccine for the county’s elementary school immunization program and, in a separate vote, approved spending $11,000 to build a limited cache of Tamiflu for local use. The Tamiflu motion passed with two commissioners opposing; the vaccine purchase passed unanimously.

Health Department staff and commissioners framed the purchases as precautionary steps to avoid the distribution delays that occurred earlier in the year. Dr. Eisenhower, a St. Mary's County Health Department official, told the board that local control of an antiviral supply would “give the health department a supply under local control should there be a serious outbreak,” and that Tamiflu is most effective when given early. He added that “it will allow us to respond more quickly and, kind of, design our own, type of, rationale for distribution.”

The $45,000 allocation is intended to let the county order the seasonal vaccine early so school immunizations can start in October and complete required second doses for children who need them before the winter holidays. “Last year, we did about, 36 or 37,100 children, which is a little bit more than half of our target population of elementary school children,” Dr. Eisenhower said when describing prior program reach and the anticipated per-student cost.

Supporters argued the small Tamiflu stock (estimated to buy roughly a hundred courses at current market prices) would protect first responders and health department staff and help bridge the gap while awaiting federal or state allocations from the Strategic National Stockpile. Commissioner Mattingly, who moved the Tamiflu motion, said the board should rely on public-health expertise: “I make that motion because I don't think any of the five of us have a medical background to make that decision, and I have the greatest confidence in Dr. Eisenhower and his staff.”

Opponents questioned the cost and scope, noting other public-health needs in the county, including a growing Lyme disease burden. One commissioner warned about past national vaccination efforts and cautioned against overreaction; another asked whether the hospital or state supply could be relied upon instead. Dr. Eisenhower said state distribution had been inconsistent and that relying on it could leave local responders without timely access to antivirals: “If on top of trying to get the Tamiflu, we have to go up to the state and try to get them to truck it down here, it'll be another two or three days,” he said.

Votes at the meeting were recorded orally. The vaccine pre-purchase motion passed unanimously. The motion to use $11,000 from the commissioners’ emergency reserve to purchase an emergency supply of Tamiflu passed 3–2. The minutes do not record roll-call names for each yea/nay vote.

The board instructed the health department to proceed with procurement and to coordinate distribution planning. Commissioners and health staff said they expect to follow prevailing clinical guidance on prioritization (first responders and high-risk individuals) if supplies remain constrained.

The board also requested continued updates from county and state public-health authorities and said it would monitor state-level plans for distribution from the Strategic National Stockpile.

Ending: The purchases are designed as stopgap measures to improve local readiness in the event of a larger fall wave; officials emphasized the county will still rely on state and federal supplies if those become available.