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The University of Maine held its fifth H1N1 vaccine clinic Thursday at the Cutler Health Center, depleting its current supply.
In October, the Maine Center for Disease Control provided the university with 1,100 doses of the vaccine. Since the beginning of November, the university has held clinics for any faculty, staff or students who fit into “high-risk” categories.
Thursday’s clinic provided 204 doses of the vaccine. Anyone within the UMaine community and in a “high-risk” category was eligible to register to receive the vaccine.
Jessica Fish, a fourth-year student at UMaine, said her father and brother both had the flu this fall and that she got the vaccine as a precautionary measure.
“I’m not real concerned about [H1N1] because nobody I’m around daily has had it,” Fish said. “It’s just better to be safe than sorry.”
The university held the clinic the day after two more Maine deaths resulting from the H1N1 virus were announced; both victims were from Penobscot County. The two deaths raised the state’s swine flu death total to 11. All deaths thus far have been from people with “underlying medical conditions.” Thursday’s deaths were Mainers between the ages of 50 and 65. Swine flu “continues to be widespread in Maine,” according to a Maine CDC press release.
“The good news is that H1N1 vaccine continues to flow into the state. We are distributing increasing amounts of vaccine to health care providers for their high priority patients including adults with underlying medical conditions, children, pregnant women as well as caregivers and household contacts of infants less than 6 months old,” said Maine CDC director Dr. Dora Anne Mills in a statement.
Cutler’s Director Richard Young said Mills has been guiding UMaine in how to effectively distribute the vaccine to everyone who may fit into a “high-risk” group.
Adam Cote, a fourth-year student, said that although nobody he knows has had the flu, he was not going to take any chances.
“[H1N1] just sounds miserable,” Cote said. “Not something that I want to catch.”
UMaine Deptartment of Safety and Environmental Management Director Wayne Maines said doctors will “cautiously wait for an outbreak” after Thanksgiving.
There have been 12 confirmed cases of swine flu on campus.
Young said he commends the community for listening to all the health warnings and suggestions to fight the flu. He said they’ve been working especially close with custodial staffs to make sure that all “touch points” are cleaned.
“Everybody has been doing their part,” Young said. “Whether using hand sanitizer, washing their hands or coughing safely, it’s been a total community effort.”
The university does not know when any more vaccinations will become available to it.
“It is tough to get solid information because it’s a moving target,” Young said. “Information has to move from the national level to state level, then local. By the time it gets to the local level, it’s old news.”
