Collegiate Times

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Ending months of uncertainty, Virginia Tech will make the H1N1 flu vaccine available to students, faculty and staff on Wednesday, Nov. 18, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in McComas Hall.

With the flu season well under way, Intravene Travel Clinic, Tech’s H1N1 supplier, received a limited supply of the vaccine for the Tech community, according to an e-mail sent to the campus body.

The Schiffert Health Center and the Office of Human Resources was notified of the availability on Tuesday.

High demand this season and the length of time needed to make the vaccine has hampered its supply.

There will be an additional vaccine clinic on Dec. 2 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in McComas Hall.

The clinic on Nov. 16 that was supposed to be held  was cancelled because of the unavailability of the swine flu vaccine.

However, concerns still remain with the seasonal flu.

At the Oct. 27 immunization clinic, the supply of the vaccine had run out by 5:30 p.m., leaving many people wondering if Schiffert was failing to provide enough vaccines.

Meagan Monte was one of many students frustrated with the shortage.

“I had class all day and the first chance I go to go to the clinic the vaccines were all gone,” Monte said. “It was very frustrating.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control, each state is allocated a certain number of vaccines that it is allowed to order, the minimum amount being 100.

From there, the CDC ships the vaccines to hospitals, offices and other providers designated by the state — a process not controlled by Schiffert.

According to the American College Health Association, colleges are experiencing surges in the flu.

A total of 8,861 new flu cases were reported during the week ending Oct. 23, according to the American College Health Association. These included 20 hospitalizations but no deaths.

The 270 reporting campuses have more than 3.1 million students.

Schiffert statistics identify 101 cases of the flu, 1095 flu-like illnesses and hundreds of students coming to the clinic every week with flu- or cold-like symptoms between Aug. 24 and Oct. 24.

Despite these numbers indicating low flu cases, the H1N1 virus is thought to be behind the majority of them.

The vast majority of reported cases are believed to be due to the H1N1 virus since the seasonal flu virus is yet to achieve its greatest impact, according to the College Health Association.

As a result, Schiffert has taken measures to alleviate some of the anxiety and help with prevention.

Partnering with the residence halls every year since 2004, Schiffert handed out nearly 10,000 flu prevention kits bundling information on proper hygiene, tissues, Clorox wipes and a thermometer, among other items.

Schiffert urges students to check out the resources section of the Health Center Web site that contains information on immunizations and proper hand washing.