Flu
vaccine cancelled at CSULB due to shortage
By
Katie Plourd
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
The annual Influenza and Meningitis Vaccine
Clinic at Cal State Long Beach will not
provide flu shots for students this year.
The
annual flu vaccine clinic has been cancelled
due to the nationwide shortage of the
vaccine, yet a meningitis vaccine will
still be offered, said Gwendolyne Taylor,
the student account services supervisor.
"We
get our vaccine supply from a company
called Maxim," Taylor said. "The
company is one of the leading providers
for other clinics, retail stores and corporations."
According
to Taylor, Maxim has not only cancelled
its distribution of vaccines to retailers
such as CSULB, but as of Oct. 18, it has
cancelled all remaining flu shot clinics.
While
supplies are short, the Center for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) is suggesting
that people put off having the vaccination
this year unless they fall into one of
the designated priority categories.
The
priority categories for the vaccination,
according to the CDC, include all children
under 23-months, adults 65-years and older,
anyone with an underlying chronic medical
condition, pregnant women, residents of
nursing homes and long-term care facilities,
children up to age 18 who are on chronic
aspirin therapy, out-of-home caregivers
and house hold contacts of children under
six-months and all health care workers
who have direct patient contact.
The
people who fall into these categories
are at high risk for serious flu complications,
according to the CDC. The CDC has advised
people who do not fall into the categories
to not get the vaccination, or to wait
until others in the priority groups have
been vaccinated.
Taylor
advises students who fall into a priority
category to contact their physician because
the vaccine is not available to anyone
on campus this year.
Julie
Harbutte, a CSULB student, plans on getting
the vaccination anyway.
"Every
year I've gotten the flu vaccine,"
Harbutte said. "I've never gotten
the flu because of it."
Although
the vaccine is the best way to prevent
the spread of the flu, according to the
CDC, everyone should take precautions
to prevent the flu from spreading. Which
include:
•
Washing hands often such
•
Staying away from people who are sick
•
Covering your nose and mouth when you
sneeze
•
Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth
to prevent the spread of germs
The
meningitis vaccine clinic will take place
Nov. 16, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the
Student Health Center, room 118.
