(CU Independent/Beth Schonberger)
The 2009 H1N1 vaccine is currently in production, awaiting its release to the public and CU is slated to carry it.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site, the expected release date of the vaccine is sometime this fall, but more specific dates cannot be released at this time.
The vaccine will be made using the same methods and facilities used to make the seasonal influenza vaccines and will consist only one dose for children 10 years of age and older. For children nine years of age and younger, two doses of the vaccine will be required.
“H1N1 vaccine is expected to be released in late October rather than mid-October,” said CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard in a news conference held Friday afternoon.
CDC predicts a possible shortage of the vaccine when it first becomes available to the public.
CU could not confirm how the vaccines would be prioritized until further information about the vaccine’s supply is provided, but expects that the first recipients of the vaccine will be high-risk students. These include people with diabetes, asthma and pregnant women.
“We really want those people with underlying conditions,” Hilliard said. “Being nervous does not put you at high risk.”
Hilliard added that CU will be working in consultation with the state and will be communicating more information on the priority system in the coming days.
Kathryn Blackwell, a 19-year-old pre-journalism and mass communication major, is quite optimistic about getting the H1N1 vaccine.
“I would love to get the vaccine,” said Blackwell. “Anything to prevent the swine flu.”
There have been 581 flu-like cases confirmed since Aug. 1 and Wardenburg is continuing to see fewer students walking into the clinic, Bronson said. But these numbers are not representative of students talked to by phone or who have received off-campus medical treatment.
Dr. Pamela Talley, lead physician for medical clinics at Wardenburg, described the in probable cases over the past week.
“We have a steady and lower number of patients that we are seeing,” Talley said. “The education of who needs to be seen when has been successful. People are getting that message in various outlets that not everyone needs to be seen.”
The CDC Web site has provided a number of recommendations to prevent the spread of H1N1 as well as seasonal influenza: Students should wash hands daily, cover their noses and mouths when coughing, stay home and limit contact with others when sick.
Contact CUindependent Staff Writer Kylie Horner at Kylie.horner@colorado.edu.
