Flu vaccines are not in short supply this year.
Student Health Services will offer vaccinations today from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the ballroom of Talley Student Center.
Dr. Mary Bengtson, medical director for Student Health Services, recommended that almost all students, staff and faculty get vaccinated.
“Basically, anyone over 6 months of age who wants to lessen the odds of flu is encouraged to get a flu shot,” Bengtson said.
Bengtson explained who should not receive a flu vaccination.
“The only reason to not get the shot is if someone has a severe egg allergy,” Bengtson said. According to Bengtson, people should be vaccinated against the flu every year.
“Flu strains can change every year, so every year you have to get the flu shot again, to ensure that you are protected,” Bengtson said.
Every year, the makers of the flu vaccine try to predict which strains of the virus will be the most common that flu season.
“When the vaccine is formulated, it ends up with pretty much with three (or more) strains. If the vaccine makers predict correctly, the vaccine can keep a person from getting the flu,” Bengtson said.
According to Bengtson, it takes about two weeks to be protected once a person gets vaccinated.
Bengtson has not seen serious reactions to the vaccine.
“The most common side effect would be mild soreness, redness; just a little bit of achiness at the site where the shot was given,” Bengtson said.
Those unable to visit Talley today will have other opportunities to get the vaccine, as there are several more shot clinics scheduled.
Flu vaccination clinics are set for: Oct. 26 at Student Health Services; Oct. 27 at Engineering Building II; Nov. 3 at Talley Student Center Ballroom and Nov. 4 at the College of Veterinary Medicine. No appointment is necessary for any of these clinics.
Students and faculty who are unable to attend any of the clinics can get a flu shot by visiting Student Health Services, according to Bengtson.
“Those who cannot make it to any of the clinics, we have a small amount of vaccine that we stock here at Student Health that we will be offering by appointment,” Bengtson said. “We have a small amount of the nasal vaccine that our pharmacist gives without an appointment.”
Bengtson requested that only people who are unable to attend any clinic go directly to Student Health Services for vaccination.
“[Come to Student Health] if a student misses all of the clinic opportunities, although we would hope that the majority, since we are a large campus with thousands of students, [go to a clinic],” Bengtson said. “It is a better option.”
The clinics organized by Student Health Services accept cash, check, BCBSNC insurance and NUFI (Pearce & Pearce, Inc.) insurance. The clinic at Talley today will also accept credit cards and eligible AllCampus cards.
Besides wider vaccine availability, this flu season is anticipated to be different than last year’s.
“It’s unusual to have flu as early as we did last year,” Bengtson said. “We had a lot of cases in the first 14 weeks of school. We had over 1,500 cases.”
Bengtson declined to predict when flu season will peak this year. However, she generalized about past flu seasons.
“It normally starts in November. It can go on to March. … Normally there is a lot of activity in January, after people who have travelled brought [the flu] back,” Bengtson said. “A lot of times January and February are very busy with flu. It drops off in March.”
