Student Health Services offered flu shots to students Tuesday and will continue to offer them today for $15 in the University Student Union Ballroom from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Student Health Services (SHS) has held a flu shot clinic in the USU for the past four years at the beginning of the fall semester when flu season starts.
According to Kandi Dubrall, a licensed vocational nurse, 803 students, faculty and staff got flu shots at the clinic last fall.
However, Dubrall said more students might not get the flu shot this year because they are too busy.
“I just think they’re busy and probably don’t pay attention until they’re sick and they have the flu, then they want the vaccine,” Dubrall said.
Like many students, Nicholas Thabeault, junior environmental science major, said he didn’t know SHS was holding a flu shot clinic, but mentioned that he might go, if he isn’t too busy.
Students can also receive flu shots at a drug store or an off-campus clinic. However, at $15 per flu shot, Dubrall said the SHS has the best deal.
She said, at other locations, flu shots can cost $25 or more.
If students are worried about getting the flu because of the flu shot, Dubrall said they have nothing to worry about.
“It’s a myth that it gives you the flu,” she said. “It’s an inactive virus.”
Dubrall said it takes 14 days for the vaccine to become effective.
The Center for Disease Control recommends that everyone six months and older get a flu shot once a year.
In addition to getting a flu shot, Dubrall recommends that students frequently wash their hands or use hand sanitizer, and avoid touching their faces or sharing writing utensils as preventative measures.
Dubrall estimates that more than 400 students, faculty and staff will get flu shots at the clinic this year.
Nayeli Parra, a freshman public administration graduate student, got a flu shot at the USU on Tuesday. She said she gets one every year because she gets sick a lot.
Initially, Parra was going to go to Magnolia school district for her flu shot for $20. She changed her mind when she saw the cost difference at Cal State Long Beach.
Flu shots are available to students throughout the school year at SHS during immunization clinic hours. For more information, visit csulb.edu/divisions/students/shs.
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