U. expects to receive H1N1 vaccine next week

The University expects to receive a shipment of the H1N1 vaccine next week and will begin to distribute the vaccine to students shortly after, the University announced Thursday afternoon in an e-mail to the campus community. University Health Services (UHS) will distribute the vaccine as doses are received from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services throughout the fall and winter.

“The University expects to be able to offer vaccinations to individuals whose primary healthcare provider is UHS: undergraduate and graduate students, as well as dependents of students whose primary healthcare provider is UHS,” the e-mail said.

UHS will adhere to health priority guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in administering the vaccine. Priority will be given to pregnant students or dependents, followed by “students who are caregivers of babies less than six months old.” Students under 24 years old with pre-existing medical conditions will be the next group to receive the vaccine, followed by all students under 24. After these groups have been inoculated, the vaccination will be extended to students over 25 with pre-existing medical conditions. The remainder of the student population will follow. UHS will contact students when they become eligible to receive the vaccine.

Because the vaccine is available in limited quantities, however, the only non-student community members to receive the vaccine will be UHS healthcare workers and emergency responders from the Department of Public Safety. These members of the community are “considered high priority by the CDC,” the e-mail explained.

“The remainder of faculty and staff may contact their personal physicians or a local health department to determine how and when they may receive the H1N1 vaccine from other providers,” the e-mail continued. “The University must await more information about state vaccine distribution plans to determine whether it will be able to offer the vaccine to faculty and staff as the vaccine becomes more widely available.”

Though the federal government is providing the vaccine for free, students who are not on the student health plan will be charged a “nominal fee of $15 to cover the administrative costs,” according to the e-mail.

Since Aug. 30, UHS has identified a total of 532 cases of influenza-like illnesses, up 11 percent from 479 total cases last week, University spokeswoman Emily Aronson said in an e-mail to The Daily Princetonian on Thursday evening. On Oct. 22, Aronson said that there had been a total of 479 cases of influenza-like illnesses on campus since Aug. 30, a 17 percent increase from the 409 cases reported a week earlier.

“It may be possible that fewer cases of flu-like illness will be reported to UHS during break week just by the fact that many students will not be on campus,” Aronson said. “Given the unpredictable nature of the illness, though, it would be difficult to speculate how students’ travels may affect flu-like activity once students return to campus after break.”