Spring Break
H1N1 vaccine now available to lower priority group
Issue date: 11/5/09
Update: As of 11:30 a.m. on Friday, the vaccine was made available to the second priority tier of students, as announced in an e-mail broadcast from Health and Wellness
The Health and Wellness Center will be offering H1N1 vaccines to students considered to be on the second highest priority level after this Friday.
Health and Wellness does not have enough staff members to give vaccines on the weekend, said Director of Student Health and Wellness Alain Joffe, adding that an announcement will be sent out when the next rounds of vaccination will begin.
This decision was made based on the fact that only about 60 or 65 students considered to be in the highest priority group have stepped forward to get the vaccine.
"Not nearly as many as I hoped have come to get the vaccine," Joffe said.
According to Joffe, as of Wednesday night there have been 315 presumed swine flu cases at the University.
While he said that the average rate of infection has been fairly constant over the past few weeks, he said, "This week has so far been slightly heavier than last week."
He explained that based on the number of students who said they had asthma on their health surveys at the beginning of the year, roughly between 150 and 180 students were eligible to receive the vaccine in the highest priority group.
He offered several explanations for why students who had listed asthma as a condition on their survey might not feel the need to get vaccinated.
"They might have a very slight case, or they may have had it as a child but not experienced problems since then," he said.
The highest priority group included students age 18 or under with asthma or a suppressed immune system. The second highest priority group, according to Joffe, is composed of students 18 year or under with diabetes, a chronic cardiovascular disorder or neurological disorder.
Joffe said that the highest priority group had been given sufficient time to get the vaccine and felt it was fair to now begin to include other individuals.
The Health and Wellness Center will be offering H1N1 vaccines to students considered to be on the second highest priority level after this Friday.
Health and Wellness does not have enough staff members to give vaccines on the weekend, said Director of Student Health and Wellness Alain Joffe, adding that an announcement will be sent out when the next rounds of vaccination will begin.
This decision was made based on the fact that only about 60 or 65 students considered to be in the highest priority group have stepped forward to get the vaccine.
"Not nearly as many as I hoped have come to get the vaccine," Joffe said.
According to Joffe, as of Wednesday night there have been 315 presumed swine flu cases at the University.
While he said that the average rate of infection has been fairly constant over the past few weeks, he said, "This week has so far been slightly heavier than last week."
He explained that based on the number of students who said they had asthma on their health surveys at the beginning of the year, roughly between 150 and 180 students were eligible to receive the vaccine in the highest priority group.
He offered several explanations for why students who had listed asthma as a condition on their survey might not feel the need to get vaccinated.
"They might have a very slight case, or they may have had it as a child but not experienced problems since then," he said.
The highest priority group included students age 18 or under with asthma or a suppressed immune system. The second highest priority group, according to Joffe, is composed of students 18 year or under with diabetes, a chronic cardiovascular disorder or neurological disorder.
Joffe said that the highest priority group had been given sufficient time to get the vaccine and felt it was fair to now begin to include other individuals.
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