H1N1 flu shot sign-up available Friday

An online program allowing students and employees to reserve a time slot to receive the free H1N1 vaccine will be accessible through OneStart beginning Friday, said Pete Grogg, associate director of the IU Health Center.

Anyone affiliated with IU can reserve a day and time for Week 1 or 2 of the clinic, which will be at Assembly Hall, Grogg said. However, the exact date the clinic will start is undecided.

“The vaccine is trickling in,” he said. “We have small amounts, but not enough to schedule a mass vaccination clinic.”

Access to the program can be found through the IU Health Center Web site or through OneStart, Grogg said, but the easiest way to find it is through the IU- Bloomington homepage. An icon advertising the program will be located on the left side of the www.iub.edu site, he said.

Once people click on the icon, the site will take them directly to the eligibility page of the program. If someone has a serious allergy to eggs, has had a serious reaction to another flu vaccine or has experienced Guillain-Barre Syndrome – an immune disorder that affects the nervous system – he or she will not be eligible for the vaccine.

The health center requires anyone receiving the vaccine to fill out an H1N1 Influenza Vaccine Consent Form and bring it with them to the chosen time, Grogg said, along with a reservation ticket they will receive through e-mail immediately after signing up.

People will be able to choose a 10-minute time slot. During each available time slot, four or five nurses will administer the shots, Grogg said. The clinic will dispense about 960 shots a day and 120 per hour, he said.

“We anticipate around 3,000 people a week,” Grogg said. “But we can either expand or contract the clinic based on the supply we receive.”

Once the administrators at the health center know when the vaccine will arrive, Grogg said everyone registered through the program will receive an e-mail reminding each individual of their time and to bring the consent form and the reservation ticket.

“The most important part of the program is making sure everyone reads the screen and does not breeze through it,” he said.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?
• Pregnant women
• Households with children younger than six months of age
• Students and employees through age 24
• Health care and emergency medical services personnel
• People 25 to 64 with a chronic medical condition that creates a higher risk for complications
MORE INFO Sign up at OneStart or follow the link at www.iub.edu.