University Health Services is hosting its first “FlashVax” clinic today at the SERF, where free Swine Flu vaccine shots will be provided between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to students ages 24 and under.
Due to concerns of a potential outbreak when students return from winter break, UHS hopes the clinic will encourage students to get vaccinated prior to leaving town for the month.
UHS administered the shot to a couple of hundred students each day since it was made available to the general student body last Tuesday, said UHS Director Sarah Van Orman. Friday’s clinic aims to target even more.
“We want to get as many students vaccinated as possible. [A clinic] is the easiest, most effective way to deliver the vaccine to large amounts of people quickly,” Van Orman said.
When getting vaccinated, students should bring their student ID, wear clothing that easily exposes the arm and bring friends along, Van Orman said. She encourages students to come during the scheduled time, or until the nearly 4,000 vaccines run out.
Although the state Department of Health Services determines the vaccine’s distribution, if supplies are exhausted, Van Orman predicts UHS would receive more from the state within a week.
“At this point we believe we are going to continue getting the vaccine. It is out of our control, but we will continue to order it so we can continue vaccinating through this semester and next semester,” she said.
The thought of next semester has recently been cause for alarm at UHS, Van Orman said. Despite predictable four- to six-week intervals between outbreaks and a general downtrend since the last peak in October, UHS is concerned the return of students from winter break could cause an uncharacteristically large breakout.
In response, UHS has not only begun making further preparations to treat an increase in infected students, but also plans to release a new wave of communication regarding H1N1 to students, staff and faculty, Van Orman said.
Among these messages will be an e-mail sent next week to faculty and staff reminding them to be compassionate of students who are ill during finals, Dean of Students Lori Berquam said.
Planning for the event of a breakout during finals began at the start of the semester, Berquam said, with many professors putting measures in place and expecting students to communicate with them if necessary.
“The impact on campus has leveled off, but we still have to be mindful of the impact on the students and faculty,” Berquam said.
Although students are busy, Berquam said she believes holding the clinic at one central location, the SERF, makes it accessible to students while also making a connection between health and physical fitness.
While neither Berquam nor Van Orman could predict student turnout, both expressed the importance of getting vaccinated, whether at school or at home, before returning from break to help prevent an outbreak.
“Ideally we would love to give two or three thousand shots. We know this is a hard time of [the] year for students … but we are hopeful people will show up,” Van Orman said.
