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Flu vaccines are on the way

Vaccines for seasonal and H1N1 flu will be available at MIT Medical this fall

September 4, 2009

Vaccinations against seasonal flu will be given out by MIT Medical starting in late September, but H1N1 vaccine will not be available from the federal government until November at the earliest.

Seasonal flu vaccine

NOTE: This information is outdated. Please refer to MIT Medical holds off on new appointments for seasonal flu vaccine (October 7, 2009)

Seasonal flu vaccinations will be given at MIT Medical  in Cambridge and Lexington. If your primary care provider (PCP) is at MIT Medical in Cambridge, you may call 617-253-4865 starting Wednesday, Sept. 9 to make an appointment, or call your PCP’s office. If your PCP is at MIT Medical in Lexington, call 781-981-7080.

Students and their families can also get seasonal flu shots at several clinics that will be held elsewhere on campus (locations and dates to be announced). Keep checking the MIT Medical website for details.

“MIT Medical requested 1,500 more doses of seasonal flu vaccine than we administered last year. The vaccine will be delivered in batches during the fall, so we can’t plan clinics as easily as we did last year,” said Kris Ruzycki, director of nursing.

H1N1 vaccine

MIT Medical expects to begin offering H1N1 vaccinations in November. The vaccination will require two shots, four weeks apart.

“According to the CDC, eventually there will be enough H1N1 vaccine for everyone who wants one, but in the beginning, we’ll only have a limited number of doses available, and the government requires us to vaccinate certain higher-risk groups of people first,” said Deborah Friscino, senior operations manager at MIT Medical.

The order in which people will be able to get H1N1 vaccinations is as follows:

1. People who care for children younger than six months of age, pregnant women, and health care workers.
2. People age six months to 24 years and ages 25–64 years who have compromised immune systems or chronic health disorders (for example, asthma or other chronic lung disease, heart disease, kidney disease, liver disease, diabetes, or neurologic or muscular disorders).
3. All people age 25–64.
4. People older than 64. (Studies show that people in this age group are at the lowest risk of getting H1N1, possibly because most of them were exposed to a similar virus in the past and have some immunity against H1N1.)

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the H1N1 vaccine should be as safe as the seasonal flu vaccine. This is because the H1N1 vaccine is being produced using the same technology and processes as seasonal flu vaccines.

• More information on H1N1 vaccine safety

Pneumococcal vaccine

Some patients should also get vaccinated against pneumococcal pneumonia. If you fall into one of the two categories listed below, you should ask for this vaccine when you get your seasonal flu shot:

1. If you smoke or have an underlying medical condition such as diabetes, heart disease or asthma, and you have never had the pneumococcal vaccine.
2. If you are 65 or older, even if you had the vaccine before. However, patients need not get this vaccine more than twice in their lives.

• More information on the pneumococcal vaccine

See also:
MIT Medical's influenza information page