BY SANDRA GUY
Vaccines to fight COVID-19 are top-of-mind for college students as never before — and August’s designation as National Immunization Awareness Month has never been more timely.
As college and university administrators figure out how to reopen their campuses amid the pandemic, a new study suggests immunity to COVID-19 is fleeting.
The implication could mean that people will need regular vaccine booster shots to keep their immune systems strong enough to fight the coronavirus. The research from Kings College London is awaiting peer review.
Meanwhile, new college students face a daunting list of required vaccines. But in times like these, the guidelines should perhaps make us thankful for these protections that we’d otherwise take for granted.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend these:
- Seasonal flu vaccine: Everyone older than six months is recommended to get a flu shot each fall.
- Whooping cough vaccine booster:Young adults who failed to get a whooping cough vaccine booster shot, called Tdap, when they were 11-12 years old should get one dose before heading off to college and dorm life. The shot protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (whooping cough).
- Meningococcal conjugate vaccine: Meningococcal disease is a bacterial infection that can cause meningitis, a potentially life-threatening swelling of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord.
- HPV vaccine:The human papillomavirus vaccine is recommended for pre-teens ages 11-12, but teens and young adults who failed to start or finish the three-shot series should get them before beginning college, the CDC said. The vaccine is recommended for women younger than 27 and men younger than 22.
HPV, a virus spread through sexual activity, can cause cervical cancer in women, and penile and anal cancer in men, or throat or oral cancer in people of either sex.
For college students who travel outside of the United States, the CDC website offers other recommendations at https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/list