Unlike last year, flu vaccines are not expected to be in short supply at the University this year, according to Student Health Nursing Supervisor Karin Hancher.
Chiron, the major supplier of flu vaccines for the University, was shut down last year, allowing only half the vaccines to be produced.
"Everybody was short last year because this major company wasn't able to produce flu vaccine," Hancher said.
The company had lost its FDA approval last year but regained permission to release its vaccines this year.
Initially, a large amount of the vaccines produced this year was sent to the Gulf states, which meant the University could only receive sporadic deliveries, Hancher said. The University pharmacy received 50 doses in October, which were reserved for students at high risk. High-risk students typically suffer from illnesses such as asthma or have weak immune systems.
The University pharmacy received its largest delivery Nov. 3, thus eliminating the need to enforce restrictions on who can receive the vaccine.
"In general, we try to vaccinate first-tier students at risk, [and] we always vaccinate our medical and nursing students because we need to take care of the patients they are taking care of at the hospital, and then we vaccinate as many ordinary students as we can," Hancher said.
Approximately 2,700 students have received the flu vaccine so far.
While there isn't a shortage of the vaccine, there is not an abundant supply either.
"I'm pretty sure we will use up everything we have," Hancher said.
Demand for the vaccines in the greater Charlottesville-Albemarle area has also been high, said Deborah Childs, a nursing supervisor in the Charlottesville-Albemarle Health Department.
Unlike Student Health however, the Charlottesville-Albemarle Health Department can only administer vaccines to people who fit a certain criteria determined by the Center for Disease Control, such as people over 65 and children over six months old with chronic medical conditions, Childs said.
According to Childs, October and November are the optimal times to receive flu vaccines, but because the flu season does not peak until February, people who receive the vaccine in December or January can still be protected.
The Health Department informs the public that there are other methods of preventing the flu. Childs said she tells people to use "good health etiquette" such as covering one's mouth while coughing and washing hands frequently.
Childs also said there have been no reports of flu activity in the Charlottesville-Albemarle area so far.
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