New and transfer students at Texas public and private colleges and universities must get a meningitis shot or they can’t move into the dorm or attend classes. KERA’s BJ Austin says that deadline is creating big demand for the vaccine.
At UTD, the deadline to submit proof of vaccination is Friday. UTA extended Friday’s deadline to January 17th, the first day of classes. The deadline at UNT is January 12th.
A new Texas law requires all new and transfer students to get the meningitis vaccine. College students are the most susceptible to the potentially fatal illness because of the high density, diverse campus environment.
Because of the high demand, Dallas County Health officials say they have run out of the state-supplied meningitis vaccine offered at 10 dollars a shot. Tarrant Public Health officials say they have about 1600 doses of the low cost vaccine – at 25 dollars each. Campus clinics, pharmacies, and private physicians also have the vaccine. The cost ranges from 120 to 150 dollars.
