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| Swine Flu Vaccine Makes its Way Back to Campus |
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| by Chelsea Hunersen |
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| 29 Oct 2009 11:45pm |
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| Caption: courtesy of swineflutips.com |
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Classrooms seem a bit empty these days as H1N1 makes its way through campus. A shortage of vaccinations has students and faculty concerned. UHS has promised students a solution to this problem, but to some that solution seems too far away.
A recent poll of a Public Policy class suggests that while the majority of students wish to acquire the vaccine, most have not yet had the opportunity to get it. University Health Services (UHS) traditionally holds flu vaccination clinics, but due to the high demand for the vaccines, some clinics have had to be cancelled, this includes the one on October 30th.
The latest figures released by the Center for Disease Control on October 23rd are that as of October 21st, 2009: 14,070,900 doses have been allocated to the United States, 12,533,700 have been ordered and 11,282,200 doses have been shipped. As of October 23rd , 308,300 doses have been shipped to the state of Michigan. The vaccination is allocated to different areas based on population, but ultimately 250 million doses will be ordered so that everyone who wants a vaccine should be able to procure one. This currently puts the CDC behind schedule in being able to provide the vaccine to the general public, and consequently the University of Michigan as well.
The H1N1 vaccine may be administered via injection or nasal spray. Presently, companies Sanofi Pasteur, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline, the companies that make the general flu vaccine, are producing the injection and MedImmune, the company that makes FluMist is producing the nasal spray. The government, however, is considering asking companies to switch from manufacturing the seasonal flu vaccine to the H1N1 vaccine. This is a controversial idea because of the risks of a seasonal flu vaccine shortage like the one we had in the 2004-2005 season. Should we underestimate the cost of switching vaccine production, we could have a new, extremely dangerous pandemic on hour hands.
UHS hopes to be able to re-start its weekly flu vaccine clinics with two additional clinics on Friday, November 6th from 1-2:30 PM and Wednesday, November 11th from 8:30-11:30 AM. The FluMist vaccine is currently available by appointment. A mass vaccination clinic will also be held at the EMU Convocation Center next Thursday for high priority risk groups.
According to the UHS website, the vaccine costs $42 and can be billed to most insurance providers, but a recent e-mail from UHS Medical Director, Robert Ernest says “University Health Service has a plan in place to offer the vaccine- at no charge- to all currently enrolled University of Michigan students as soon as we get the vaccine.”
At this time, it is recommended you get the vaccine if you fall into one of the following categories: people between 6 months and 19 years old, pregnant women, people age 50 years and older, people with chronic medical conditions, people in nursing homes, people who live with or care for those at high risk for complications including health care workers, household contracts of persons at high risk and household contracts and caregivers of children under the age of five (with emphasis on children under the age of six months).
Those who should not get the vaccine include people who are severely allergic to chicken eggs, people who have had a severe reaction to a previous flu vaccine, people who have developed Guillain-Barré syndrome, children less than 6 months of age, and people who currently have a fever.
Any one with more questions is encouraged to e-mail fluquestions@umich.edu and visit the UHS website: http://www.uhs.umich.edu/fluvaccination or the CDC website http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm. 
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| University President Mary Sue Coleman announced in a statement today that President Barack Obama will deliver this year's spring commencement address. | |
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| An armed robbery has been targeted at a student while near a University dorm. | |
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| Every 10 years a very important event comes to pass. The US Government is required by the Constitution to conduct a census, a survey to gauge how many people are living in one given area at any time. ... | |
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| An accidental fire on North Campus temporarily displaces some University Students. | |
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| UM C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Women's Hospital is about to get some major help. Former Michigan football player (1997 Heisman trophy winner) and Green Bay Packers player Charles Woodson has ple... | |
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| Those planning to purchase Blue Bucks should plan ahead this month, as the online purchase system is not currently available. | |
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| Many students said they noticed green-tinted flashes in the air and heard loud bangs that were not the result of lightning strikes. The flashes were visible as far away as Elbel Field on south campus... | |
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| A collection of reports from out in the field. |
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| An album including special coverage. |
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| Weather forecasts and reports. |
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| Coverage of national or international events, including: speeches, rallies, hearings, etc. |
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| Sundance USA came to Ann Arbor! |
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| A collection of images with no supplemental stories, only brief captions. |
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| A collection of all of the photos used for the stories. |
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