Affordable meningitis shots abound for the college bound

Vaccine can be costly, but area offers options

A single mother of two, Trenace Carter is worried that her 20-year-old son will not be ready for classes to start at Houston Community College next month because of a vaccine.

He’s too old to qualify for a children’s vaccination program and he didn’t get a meningitis booster shot in high school. She doesn’t want him to miss a semester.

“I don’t want him to linger out too long and start making money and forget about education,” she said. “He definitely needs to go while it’s in his mind to go.”

For many students in Texas, the cost of college includes the price of a meningitis shot.

Any student 21 and younger must have a vaccination before attending college, unless they file for a special exemption.

And with the retail cost exceeding $100 per vaccine, it’s an additional expense that has many students and parents panicking the month before most classes begin at Houston-area colleges and universities.

Classes start Aug. 28 at HCC, Lone Star College, San Jacinto College and Texas Southern University. School opens one week earlier at the University of Houston and the University of Houston-Downtown.

Meningococcal disease is a rare, yet serious, bacterial infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Two dozen cases were identified in Texas in 2016, including four in Harris County.

A meningitis vaccine has been required for college students in Texas since 2010, when legislators passed the Jamie

Schanbaum Act. The law was named for a University of Texas student who survived the illness with amputations and became an immunization activist. The mandate first covered students living in campus housing, then expanded to those under 30 regardless of living arrangements.

In 2013, the law was amended to include only students 21 and younger, which targets the group most at risk for infection. The Texas Department of State Health Services has an online exemption form for those attending public junior colleges and community colleges.

Carter said she priced the meningococcal vaccine at $133 from Walgreens and Kroger pharmacies. She found a clinic offering a cheaper shot for $22, but her son couldn’t get an appointment in time to enroll.

There are other options. Health departments in Houston as well as Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery and Galveston counties have an ample supply of free and discounted doses available under the Vaccines for Children program, which covers eligible patients younger than 19.

Special prices also are available for those a little older. Some schools, including San Jacinto College, have arranged for students to receive discounted vaccines.

Here are options available for reduced-price vaccines:

• Adult Safety Net: For uninsured adults 19 and older, this statewide program offers free meningitis vaccines, though providers may charge an administration fee up to $25. If a patient is unable to afford the fee, “the provider may not deny them the vaccination because of their inability to pay,” according to Texas Department of State Health Services spokesman Chris Van Deusen. Visit www. dshs.texas.gov/immunize/ ASN/public.aspx to find a provider, verify vaccine availability and to make an

appointment.

• Houston Health Department: The agency’s four health centers charge only an administrative fee for vaccines provided to patients who meet the eligibility requirements of the Texas Vaccines for Children and Adult Safety Net programs. Patients 18 and younger who are uninsured, under-insured, American Indian or Alaskan Native can receive a meningitis vaccine for $10 per dose. Medicaid and CHIP recipients ages 18 and younger will not be assessed a fee. Patients 19 and older without health insurance can receive a vaccine for a $15 administrative fee, according to department spokesman Porfirio Villarreal.

• Harris County Public Health: The agency participates in the Vaccines for Children program and charges a $19 administrative fee. Adult Safety Net vaccines are offered for a $22 administrative fee. Patients can receive multiple vaccinations for one administrative fee. The cash price for those who do qualify for federal programs is $110. Clinics have vaccines and appointments available.

• Fort Bend County Health and Human Services: Eligible clients 18 and younger receive a free vaccine with a $10 administrative fee. The charge is $15 for clients 19 and older. “For clients who are unable to pay, we waive the administration fee,” said Dr. M. des Vignes-Kendrick, the agency director and county health authority.

• Montgomery County Public Health District: Vaccines are administered for $10 to patients who are uninsured and underinsured. Medicaid-eligible patients will have that fee billed to Medicaid. “We ask that the student bring a shot record so that we can update it,” said the agency’s public health manager, Alicia Hawkins Williams.

• Galveston County Health District: The cash price for the meningitis vaccine is $134, but the immunization clinic accepts Children’s Medicaid and Blue Cross Blue Shield — which cover the vaccine. An uninsured patient can receive a state-supplied vaccine for a $14 administrative charge, “which can be waived if the patient cannot pay,” said Scott Packard, director of communications for the Galveston County Health District.

• Christus Foundation for HealthCare: Meningitis vaccines are available for $15 to uninsured children and young adults at clinics in east Houston and Dickinson. Free immunizations will be offered at the Dickinson clinic during a health fair on Aug. 9, a spokeswoman said.

• Walgreens: Most insurance plans cover the vaccine. The cash price is $133.99 and can be reduced to $127.29 using the Walgreens Prescription Savings Club, according to a company spokeswoman.