Local school districts are gearing up for the start of school during the next few weeks and concerns about Swine Flu are at the top of teachers' lesson plans.

"I assured our faculty and staff this morning that our schools would be safe," said superintendent at Lackawanna City Schools, Dr. Frederick Wille. "So we're going to do our part to make sure our physical environment is as safe as it can be."

Lackawanna starts classes tomorrow and school officials have been in close contact with state and county health officials to make sure they're doing everything they can to reduce he chances of spreading the disease.

"We haven't taken a break over the summer because we're planning for it to come back. But whether it comes back or not is anybody's guess," said Dr. Anthony Billittier, Erie County's health director.

Meantime, work continues on a vaccine. Once it's deemed safe for the general public, those who are at the most risk - including children and the elderly - will be immunized if they want to be.

"I cannot stress enough how overwhelming this is going to be if we have to vaccinate people," Billittier said. "We just received the New York State estimate on the number of people in Erie County who would be in line for the shot, and that's basically half the population."

460,000 people in Erie County alone. Billittier is hoping personal care physicians will vaccinate as many of their patients as needed, so the county won't have to take on the task of immunizing people on their own.