Housing Services and Bucknell Student Health collaborated to hold student flu shot clinics most days during the past few weeks, with the final date for students to get their shot being Thursday, Oct. 28.

Located at various places on campus, including the Graham Building entrance, Silberman Hall in the Gateways, Marts Hall porch and inside Bertrand hallway, nurses from Bucknell Student Health were administering free vaccinations for the latest strand of the flu for students who wished to stop and get one. 

Housing Services sent two separate emails encouraging students to sign up for flu shot clinics, which includes an attached Google Form that must have been filled out with proof of completion at the clinic.

“Please do your part for our campus and surrounding community by getting your flu shot,” Melissa Allen, a registered nurse at Student Health, noted in a posting on the University Message Center. 

Vaccination clinics for the flu shot are held yearly by Bucknell Student Health and are intended to provide the University community with protection from the virus. The annual flu shot is a vaccination that is updated year-to-year for the newest mutations of the virus.

These mobile vaccination units respond to a unique need in the University’s community: students are often too busy during their weekdays to find time to walk down to the Graham Building where Student Health services (and the Counseling and Student Development Center) are located. Having tables placed around campus in high-traffic locations with nurses ready to administer shots as students stop by makes the process quick and easy. 

As previously reported in The Bucknellian, an influx of patients this flu season has led to a backlog of appointments and increased wait times for students seeking treatment. This backlog has made the walk-in appointments that are typically accessible to students nearly vanish from availability.

The annual flu shot is an essential part of protecting “the herd,” according to student health. “Getting a flu shot is the first and best step to keep you healthy this flu season.” 

Student Health representatives add that, contrary to popular misperception, students “cannot get the flu from the flu shot itself. Being less likely to get the flu means you are less likely to miss class meaning you are more likely to do better academically.”

The flu vaccination prevents millions of illnesses and flu-related doctor’s visits each year. In general, flu season starts late fall in the United States, peaks in January and February, and lasts until early spring.