WOONSOCKET, R.I. — In Texas, a new mandate requiring a meningitis immunization for all college students has led MinuteClinic to boost its availability of the vaccine in the state.
The CVS Caremark Corp. retail health clinic subsidiary said Monday that it has prepared all of its locations inside CVS/pharmacy stores in Texas for an increased demand for the meningitis vaccination for when the requirement goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2012.
The company noted that following a bill signed into law last May, Texas will become the first state to require that all college students receive one dose or booster of the meningococcal vaccine for bacterial meningitis.
MinuteClinic said it has 41 walk-in clinics in the Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston metropolitan areas located within a 20-mile radius of 63 Texas colleges and universities. Ample supply of meningitis vaccine is available at those clinics as well as at the more than 600 MinuteClinics 26 states and the District of Columbia, according to the company
"We know nearly 1.5 million students entered college in Texas this past fall, and 70,000 more are expected to start in spring 2012," Angela Patterson, nurse practitioner and MinuteClinic regional manager, said in a statement. "MinuteClinic makes it easy for students to fulfill this vaccination requirement by making meningitis vaccinations available seven days a week with no appointment necessary and providing students the proper documentation to submit to their school."
Previous Texas law required those living in campus dorms to get a meningococcal vaccination, yet the new mandate expands the provision to all students entering any college or university, including new students, community and junior college students, commuting students, transferring students and students who may not have lived in a Texas college dorm before, according to MinuteClinic. Texas students must provide their school evidence of a vaccination within the last five years no later than 10 days before the first day of the 2012 semester or term.
The cost to receive the required meningitis vaccination at MinuteClinic is $147, or an insurance co-pay. Most major insurance will cover all or part of the cost, the company said.
MinuteClinic noted that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, young adults living and going to class on crowded college campuses and surrounded by individuals from various geographic areas are at highest risk for meningitis.
