H1N1 vaccine now available to lower priority group

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.

"That [top priority] group has had reasonable opportunity to get the vaccine," he said.

Joffe was uncertain as to when exactly the university would receive more vaccines, or how many they would receive.

"I got communication from the state that we should be expecting some in the next week or so," Joffe said. "But they didn't say exactly when or tell me how many doses we will get."

Students continue to be divided on the issue of getting vaccinated.

"I read some negative things about the vaccine so I'm still considering it, I'm not entirely sure," junior Aljosa Zovko said.

Senior Juhee Kim was strongly in favor of at-risk students getting the vaccine.

"I would go get vaccinated. People always worry if something goes wrong with one person, but there's no definite research saying that the vaccine is harmful," she said. "I would definitely get it, if not only for the benefit of the Hopkins community so it doesn't continue to spread."

Sophomore Mike Messina said that "If I can find the time in my busy Hopkins schedule I'll go get vaccinated."

Fellow sophomore Manik Bhat spoke in favor of getting the vaccine.

"I actually was called by the Health and Wellness center and told about the vaccine," he said. "I think it's worthwhile. I'm living on a floor where five people have gotten the flu and one of them actually had to go home for a while, so that's a hindrance to your work ethic."

Bhat is considered a high priority because of his history with asthma. He said that although he has not yet received the vaccine, he plans to do so soon.