Student Health Services is expected to receive 5,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine and begin opening clinics next Tuesday, according to Boston University spokesman Colin Riley. The vaccine will be available to all students at no cost.

This is the first time that the vaccine has been available to all BU students. A clinic was held on Dec. 8 for students with health conditions that would put them more at risk of contracting H1N1. Attendance at the one-day clinic was low, according to BU Vice President for Administrative Services Peter Fiedler.

‘I don’t believe there was a very large turnout,’ Fiedler said. ‘There is a certain level of apathy in this whole thing. The vaccine is becoming more available now, people aren’t necessarily responding to the availability, especially in the demographic of college kids.’

SHS will also be offering the vaccine to faculty and staff members this Wednesday and Thursday, Fiedler said.

Although the number of reported H1N1 cases has dropped both nationally and locally since Thanksgiving, officials still highly recommend the vaccination.

‘We have to watch this very carefully because it is typical of the flu to see a resurgence after the holidays,’ Fiedler said. ‘We could get another spike so we will encourage people to get vaccinated and will maintain our H1N1 task force and our vigilance. As far as we are concerned this isn’t over yet.’

Fiedler also said that the number of H1N1 cases reported at BU has been proportionally low compared with that of other smaller colleges.

‘The last count was in the low 400s,’ Fiedler said. ‘The number of cases has followed the national trend, a steady decline, for the last eight weeks and the number of isolation cases dropped off to near zero around Thanksgiving.’

There is also a surplus of the H1N1 vaccine available in both the city of Boston and the state of Massachusetts. According to Mass. Department of Public Health Spokeswoman Jennifer Manley, there are about 2.8 million doses available in various clinics throughout the state.

‘We are expecting to start seeing many more clinics open up for the general public in the coming weeks,’ Manley said.

Boston Public Health Commission Communications Director Ann Scales said that attendance has been high at these clinics so far and that the supply seems to be appropriately matched with the demand.

‘We have had pretty good crowds of people show up at the community health centers,’ Scales said. ‘We ran two public health clinics last month and vaccinated over 2000 people ‘hellip; there seems to be an adequate supply after an initial shortage.’

Boston Public Health Commission Spokeswoman Susan Harrington said that despite the current downswing in the number of cases of the flu, a resurgence is highly possible.

‘The flu season continues on until March and April, so we still may see another wave of flu activity in Boston throughout the winter,’ Harrington said. ‘The best way to protect yourself is to get vaccinated against both seasonal flu and H1N1.’

Although the decline in the number of cases cannot yet be attributed to the success of the vaccine, officials say that getting the vaccination is the best defense against the spread of H1N1.

‘It’s really the best protection against getting sick and spreading your illness to others,’ Scales said. ‘The flu can make you feel awful. And you don’t have to feel awful because there’s a vaccine that can prevent you from getting and spreading it. It’s really the best thing you can do.”