Hundreds of students lined up outside the ASU Campus Health Service Building on the Tempe campus Thursday to receive one of 10,000 available swine flu vaccinations for $10.
Health Services did not run out of vaccines Thursday and is currently determining how to distribute those remaining.
Nearly 2,400 vaccines were distributed Wednesday and Thursday on the Tempe campus alone. Figures for West, Polytechnic and the Downtown campuses were not immediately available.
Vaccine recipients gathered outside a makeshift clinic, filled out a brief medical history form and were handed either a pink or blue slip.
Those given blue slips had an underlying condition like asthma, diabetes or heart disease, or lived or worked with young children. They were given traditional vaccines.
Students and others with no underlying conditions or contact with young children were given a pink slip, which qualified them for a nasal spray vaccine.
ASU spokeswoman Julie Newberg said though there are no definite numbers on campus swine flu cases, health officials are tracking trends.
“This is a relatively mild flu,” she said. “We’re encouraging independent departments to distribute hand sanitizers. We’re currently working to get permanent [dispensers installed on campus].”
Electrical engineering graduate student Wei Xu said he decided to get the vaccine when he found out it was free with his student health insurance.
“I’m an international graduate student, and if I got sick, my family overseas [in China] would worry,” he said.
Xu said he works on research as a graduate student and that getting sick could jeopardize his ability to perform well — or at all — at his job.
The potential for missing school and work was a common reason students decided to get vaccinated this week.
Sustainability freshman Emily Rosen said she was worried about getting sick so close to finals week.
“Living in the school housing, I know I’m going to be in contact with a lot of people who are sick,” she said.
The process was quick and only cost her $10, Rosen said, but she was surprised to get a nasal spray instead of a vaccination.
It’s important for students in a university setting to be vaccinated, she said.
Kinesiology freshman Michael Goodin agreed.
“The ventilation in the dorms is not as good,” he said. “You’re more likely to get sick [there].”
Goodin said his girlfriend recently contracted swine flu so he decided to get vaccinated in fear of getting it himself.
“I noticed a lot more kids are becoming sick,” he said.
Special education freshman Emily Clonts said she decided to get the vaccine after talking with her mother about it.
“I think getting sick with finals would be difficult,” she said.
Being in such close proximity with other students on a daily basis, Clonts said she felt at risk of getting swine flu.
“It spreads so easily,” she said. “If everyone got the vaccine, we wouldn’t have to worry.”
Reach the reporter at ndgilber@asu.edu
