Dear Members of the University Community:

The University has received additional H1N1 vaccine from Public Health—Seattle and King County (PH-SKC) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and has scheduled a vaccination clinic on Tuesday, November 24, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the north Husky Den of the Husky Union Building (HUB).  (Enter from ground-level east entrance off Stevens Way).

Given the limited supply of vaccine, CDC guidelines for dispensing it to priority groups are still in effect. For adults, only those in the following groups may receive the H1N1 vaccine at this time:

1. Healthcare and emergency medical services personnel (this includes students in health training programs with clinical components)
2. Pregnant women
3. Healthy persons up to age 24
4. People ages 25 through 64 years old who are at higher risk for severe H1N1 disease because of chronic health conditions (such as asthma, heart disease, diabetes, or brain/nervous system disorders) or serious immune system problems
5. People who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age

Only UW students, faculty, and staff in these categories are eligible at this time to receive vaccines from the clinic. UW photo ID will be required. The vaccine itself will be provided at no cost. There is a $10 administration fee, payable by cash or check made out to Maxim at the time of vaccination.

There are two types of vaccine, an inactivated form (injection) reserved for pregnant women and persons less than age 65 years old with chronic conditions (#2 and #4 above), and a live attenuated form (nasal spray).  The nasal spray is only for healthy persons less than 50 years old (without chronic health conditions) who are not pregnant.  Health care workers who meet these criteria and who do not work on a bone marrow transplant unit are eligible for the nasal vaccine.  For this clinic, due to limited vaccine supplies, the nasal vaccine will be the only option for healthy persons under age 50 (category #3 and some in #1 and #5).

As more vaccine from PH-SKC and the CDC becomes available in the coming weeks, we will add additional clinics, provide information on where and when they will be held, and will update the information on who qualifies for vaccine.

H1N1 vaccine, though in very limited supply right now, is also being distributed to health care providers throughout the Puget Sound region. If you prefer to receive a vaccine from your provider, please contact them for information. If you have additional questions, please contact your personal physician.

Sincerely,

Jean Haulman, M.D.
Medical Director
Campus Health Services

The H1N1 clinic on Thursday, November 12 in Health Sciences T365 was a terrific success.  Many thanks to the students, staff, and faculty who had a great attitude even though some of them waited for up to 2 hours to receive the vaccine.  Thanks also to the UW Police Department, UW Emergency Management staff, Campus Health Services nurse managers, and staff from Maxim.

More than 1000 vaccines were given in 8 hours.  The staff present at the clinic will review the specifics of the clinic with the Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases this coming Monday, November 16, 2009. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Those waiting in line had some questions:

• Who can only receive the injectable inactivated vaccine and who is eligible for the nasal vaccine at the UW-sponsored clinics?
• Why didn’t the clinic schedule appointments to prevent long lines?
• Why weren’t clinical staff and students given priority in line?
• Questions about the H1N1 vaccine

The first question was regarding who can only receive the injectable inactivated vaccine and who is eligible for the nasal vaccine.

The injectable H1N1 vaccine  at UW-sponsored clinics is reserved for:

• adults up through age 64 with chronic medical conditions that put them at increased risk of influenza complications
• pregnant women
• people who have received a live vaccine within the past 28 days (MMR, varicella, yellow fever) and within the prior 21 days for receipt of nasal seasonal influenza vaccine.  It is advised that these persons wait the allotted time period between vaccines if they qualify for the nasal vaccine, however for some HCWs the H1N1 vaccine may be required sooner than the required time spacing of live vaccines.

 The live attenuated intranasal vaccine  should be given to:

• people age 2 through 49 years
• who are healthy without chronic medical problems

This includes:

• parents of children under the age of 6 months
• family members caring for or living with loved ones with chronic diseases.
• health science students and health care workers *
• healthy persons up to age 24 years once more vaccine is available)

* For health care workers (HCW) or health science (HS) students who have patient contact, the only limitation is if care is being provided to bone marrow transplant (BMT) recipients.  If the nasal vaccine is given to this group of providers, they must wait 7 days before caring for these patients.   For this reason, it is advised that this group of providers receives the injectable vaccine to avoid interruption in work continuity.  For more information, see Questions & Answers: 2009 H1N1 Nasal Spray Vaccine (CDC).

Many HCWs and HS students were advised by clinical sites to receive the injectable vaccine for contact with non-BMT patients.  The UW H1N1 clinics are strictly following the current recommendations of PH-SKC.  Those that qualify for the nasal influenza vaccine should receive this vaccine and should NOT receive the injectable vaccine. 

The second concern related to why the clinic didn’t schedule appointments to prevent long lines. 

Creating a schedule for patients requires advance notice, is very labor intensive, runs the risk of not being on time, and would significantly increase the cost of providing this vaccine.  The $10.00 fee was a bargain, and related to the volume of patients, the ability to contract with an outside vendor for the administration of the vaccine, and the consenting process.  Also, the cost was kept low because the room space (and its overhead) was donated by Health Sciences Administration.  Future H1N1 clinics will have space donated by Student Life.

The longest waiting time occurred for those that showed up well in advance of the clinic doors opening.  The wait time throughout the morning was approximately 90 minutes and in the afternoon 45 to 60 minutes.

The third concern related to the misconception by clinical staff and students anticipating that they would be served ahead of those who waited.  The UW H1N1 clinics are first-come, first-served.  No preference is given to any one group.

Finally, the last concern: for those UW faculty, staff, and students who chose to not take one of the Vaccine Information Statements (VIS) they can be found online at Vaccine Fact Sheets (CDC).