By Ilana Williams
With flu season just around the corner, the University of Maryland School of Public Health held its eighth annual flu shot clinic on Tuesday.
Flu shots were available for registered UMD staff, faculty and students. Last year, the clinic saw around 30 people, but this year 124 people registered, program administrative specialist Caitlin Waite said.
The School of Public Health partnered with the UMD Health Center to run the clinic. Nurses administered the shots while students in PHACE, Public Health Through Civic Engagement, handed out popsicles and flyers with information about how to fight and avoid contracting the flu, as well as the difference between the flu and COVID-19.
“I think people are a little more aware of how much we’re spreading germs,” Waite said. “In the past year and a half we haven’t really been around other people”
Additionally, as a new way to get more people to register, School of Public Health Dean Boris Lushniak donated $1 per vaccine to the School of Public Health Student Emergency Scholarship Fund, Waite said. Lushniak will be donating $200.
“The donation from Dean Lushniak is wonderful both in emphasizing the importance of flu vaccination but also the critical need of our students and how support from the SPH Student Emergency Fund ensures continued success of our diverse body of students who are experiencing one or more hardships,” School of Public Health director of operations and chief of staff Erin McClure said in an email.
Madeline Vu, a senior family science major, is the School of Public Health Happiness Initiative intern. She created the flyers and volunteered at the clinic for the first time this year.
“It was cool to see that a lot of people showed up,” Vu said. “I know [the clinic was] promoted around school, but during my freshman and sophomore year I don’t think I heard about it, so it was cool that a lot of people paid attention and actually showed up.”
Vu said she wanted to volunteer at the clinic because it’s important for people to get their flu shots and stay informed about vaccines.
“With the COVID vaccine everyone’s really worried about the booster shot and COVID, but we can’t forget that flu season is also here,” Vu said. “It’s really important to address that so we have less people getting sick.”
Assistant Clinical Professor Dr. Jennifer German said the flu forecast is low this year, meaning flu season will be less severe than it has been in the past.
“It’s not impossible that we will see flu, but so far the predictions [show] there will probably be a pretty low activity,” German said.
Last year was also a mild flu season because of the pandemic control measures, German said.
Both COVID-19 and the flu are respiratory viruses, so when there are control measures for one, there will be a reduction in other respiratory virus transmissions.
“I always recommend getting [the flu shot] because the function of the vaccine is not necessarily to keep you from getting [the flu] completely, but it is to help reduce the severity,” German said. “Because we haven’t had a terribly bad flu season in a few years, overall immunity might be a little lower, so it will be important for people to get vaccinated.”
Cesia Delcid, a junior government and politics major, said she doesn’t mind getting the flu shot because of its importance.
“You prevent yourself from getting sick,” Delcid said. “You’re also preventing other people from getting sick and it’s just important in general because you’re always around people.”
Delcid has not gotten her flu shot yet, but she schedules her annual doctor’s appointments around the same time every year to coincide with the beginning of flu shot season so she can get it then.
“The pandemic has already affected so many people, it’ll be better to take more precautions,” Delcid said. “So if that means taking the flu shot, I would totally recommend it.”
As for the School of Public Health’s flu shot clinic, Vu said she hopes more people will come next year.
“I just hope that we continue to reach more students and faculty members so they can all get their flu shots on campus easily,” Vu said.
Featured image: A healthcare worker administers a flu shot for a UMD community member at the School of Public Health flu shot clinic on Tuesday. The annual clinic had 124 registrants this year. Photo by Ava Thompson.