By Jessie Hethcoat
Monday, the University Health Center's flu immunization clinic ran out of seasonal flu shots.
Consequently, today's vaccination clinic that was scheduled from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. is canceled.
Typically, the university administers approximately 250 flu shots during flu season, according to Paul Myers, director of the University Health Center.
The health center placed its order for 280 shots last spring, he said, basing its estimates on the fact that, last year, there was a surplus of seasonal flu vaccinations at UP.
However, this year, the news about swine flu changed everything.
"Over the summer, when H1N1 didn't go away, public health officials predicted that there would be greater desire for an attention to seasonal flu shots because there was going to be such an increase in the desire for H1N1 shots," Myers said.
Because of this concern, the University placed an order for 120 additional shots, but the health center is still on the waiting list to receive them.
Myers is hopeful that 80 more shots from the spring order will arrive within the next two weeks, and that the remaining 120 will arrive before the flu season does.
"During the summer we were told supplies for seasonal flu shots were plenty and there would be no supply problem," Myers said. "It looks like to me that the private retail market was able to siphon out some of the resources."
In a typical year, the 200 vaccinations the health center has given out would have been sufficient.
Typically, the health center provides for 5 percent of the school population to be vaccinated. This year, Myers is planning for 10 percent.
News of the seasonal vaccine shortage traveled mostly by word-of-mouth, but the University issued a campus-wide e-mail from Myers late Wednesday afternoon.
The e-mail attributed the shortage to "the combination of high demand and a slow distribution network for vaccines."
The e-mail also said it would notify the UP community when the rest of the seasonal vaccination order was delivered, and that flyers listing alternative vaccine providers were available at the health center.
"I'm not worried," sophomore Megan Drouhard said. "I'll just go to Walgreens for mine."
One complication is that all junior and senior nursing majors are required to get the seasonal flu shot.
Emily Heuman, the Clinical Program Support Specialist for the UP School of Nursing, sent out an e-mail Monday alerting nursing students that the health center ran out of seasonal flu shots and the Thursday clinic was canceled.
"I always tell my students not to rely on the health center," Heuman said. "I know based on scheduling that not everyone can come to the shot clinics."
Junior nursing major Janelle Ostby is one of the students required to get the seasonal flu shot.
"When I saw the line Monday morning, I decided to wait until Thursday's clinic," Ostby said.
"I'll probably just research other health clinics where I can get mine."
UP isn't the only institution where seasonal flu shots came up short. Lewis and Clark College also ran out of seasonal flu shots at its clinic Sept. 11.
Some medical offices run by major health organizations, such as Providence, are also facing the same problem.
According to Myers, the seasonal flu shots situation is much different from that of the swine flu vaccines, and he does not anticipate a shortage of swine flu vaccine at UP. He expects them to arrive sometime in October.
The University has ordered 4,000 H1N1 vaccines, which are distributed by the county, not private distributors, Myers said.
Health officials in the tri-county area aim to get 880,000 people in the metro area vaccinated. Because college students are considered a high risk population for the H1N1 virus, UP is considered a high priority for H1N1 vaccines.
While campuses in other parts of the country have seen major H1N1 outbreaks, UP has not had a significant problem, at least not yet, according to Myers.
"We're still seeing fairly low numbers of flu-like symptoms on campus. This is good, but county epidemiologists are predicting much higher numbers," Myers said.
"It's still important to work together rather than against each other on this issue," Myers said.
The health center urges students to find the middle road, between hysteria and apathy.
"It's really unprecedented to have this kind of interest, and it's great," Myers said. "I hope it continues into the season where the H1N1 virus is present."
