The health center began offering the vaccine to high-risk students in mid-November, but until receiving an additional 1,000 doses of the vaccine before Thanksgiving, wasn’t able to offer the vaccine to lower-risk students. Olin widened the criteria Monday and now is offering it to healthy students through age 24, Olin spokeswoman Kathy Braunlich said.

The vaccine costs $10 if students pay at the time of the appointment and $19.84 if they pay later or bill their insurance, Braunlich said.

“For people who are not sure whether their insurance will cover it or not, it’s probably better to just pay the $10,” she said.

Since making the vaccine available to all students through age 24, Olin has received about 300 requests for the vaccine, Braunlich said. The vaccine also is available to students older than 24 who have high risk medical conditions, as well as pregnant students, Braunlich said.

To get the H1N1 vaccine at Olin, students need to fill out a request form on the Olin Web site. They then will be contacted to set up an appointment, Braunlich said.

Plant biology junior Alex Seddon said having access to the vaccine on campus will be more convenient for students.

“If it’s available that closely and is cheap, it’s worth going because the flu can mess with your schedule,” Seddon said. “With finals coming up, it’s not a good thing to be dealing with.”

Previously, university officials had advised students seeking the vaccine to visit free clinics at various locations across Ingham County.

Ingham County Health Department spokesman Marcus Cheathum said H1N1 cases are decreasing nationwide, but people still should get the vaccine if they can.

The H1N1 virus still is considered a national pandemic, but there no longer is a shortage of the vaccine, Cheathum said.

“We are seeing less cases then we used to but … there are other areas where it is still taking off,” he said. “We don’t know if this is the end of it. It’s not uncommon with a pandemic like this to see a second wave.”

Cheathum said the virus still is spreading in Northern Hemisphere countries, such as Canada.

There have been 59 deaths related to H1N1 in Michigan since April, Michigan Department of Community Health spokesman James McCurtis said.

Of those, 19 deaths were people between the ages of 18-44.

“If it’s something the university is making available for students, they should take advantage,” he said.

Cheathum said although people with pre-existing conditions such as diabetes or asthma are at a higher risk of dying from the virus, effects are unpredictable.

“The mortality is distributed evenly across all ages,” he said. “The virus is typically a mild virus, but a certain amount of times it is very aggressive and can kill people.”

For more information on getting the H1N1 vaccine from Olin Health Center, visit Olin’s Flu Vaccine Web page at http://olin.msu.edu/fluvaccine.php.