H1N1 vaccine available to third-priority students
Type A H1N1 influenza continues to be the predominant strain of flu circulating in the state of Maryland and at Hopkins.
As of Nov. 10, Alain Joffe, the director of the student Health and Wellness Center, explicitly stated that, "Right now there is no seasonal flu circulating in Maryland. Anyone who has the flu has H1N1."
As of the 11th, Hopkins received a new shipment of H1N1 vaccine doses and was able to begin offering the vaccine to the next priority level.
Previously, the vaccine was only being offered to students 18 years old and under with
underlying health conditions such as asthma, a suppressed immune system, a chronic heart condition, diabetes or a neurological disease, or students within that age group who were also pregnant. Those are the conditions most likely to lead to complications when combined with H1N1.
However, with the new shipment, Hopkins is able to offer the vaccine to all undergraduates under 64 with those health conditions, as well as students who are the primary caregivers of a child six months or younger. This priority level is known as Tier 1C.
This is in accordance with guidelines presented by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), which lays out the categories describing individuals most at risk for serious health complications if they get H1N1.
Those individuals would also be more at risk for complications if they caught seasonal flu, and so for a time the Health and Wellness required that students getting the swine flu vaccine also got the seasonal flu vaccine.
However, according to an update on the Health and Wellness Center's Web site as of the 6th, that requirement has been waived because Health and Wellness has run out of seasonal flu vaccine.
Also according to the Web site, they "do not anticipate getting more" of the seasonal vaccine.
Although broadcast e-mails have been sent out alerting students that the third priority group is now eligible to receive the vaccine, the Health and Wellness Center's Web site was last updated on Nov. 6, so it only mentions the first two priority levels.
As of Nov. 10, Alain Joffe, the director of the student Health and Wellness Center, explicitly stated that, "Right now there is no seasonal flu circulating in Maryland. Anyone who has the flu has H1N1."
As of the 11th, Hopkins received a new shipment of H1N1 vaccine doses and was able to begin offering the vaccine to the next priority level.
Previously, the vaccine was only being offered to students 18 years old and under with
underlying health conditions such as asthma, a suppressed immune system, a chronic heart condition, diabetes or a neurological disease, or students within that age group who were also pregnant. Those are the conditions most likely to lead to complications when combined with H1N1.
However, with the new shipment, Hopkins is able to offer the vaccine to all undergraduates under 64 with those health conditions, as well as students who are the primary caregivers of a child six months or younger. This priority level is known as Tier 1C.
This is in accordance with guidelines presented by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), which lays out the categories describing individuals most at risk for serious health complications if they get H1N1.
Those individuals would also be more at risk for complications if they caught seasonal flu, and so for a time the Health and Wellness required that students getting the swine flu vaccine also got the seasonal flu vaccine.
However, according to an update on the Health and Wellness Center's Web site as of the 6th, that requirement has been waived because Health and Wellness has run out of seasonal flu vaccine.
Also according to the Web site, they "do not anticipate getting more" of the seasonal vaccine.
Although broadcast e-mails have been sent out alerting students that the third priority group is now eligible to receive the vaccine, the Health and Wellness Center's Web site was last updated on Nov. 6, so it only mentions the first two priority levels.
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