Flu shots available to students, staff

University Health Services will administer flu shots to students, faculty and staff at the Union South satellite clinic on Monday, Nov. 8 and Tuesday, Nov. 9, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. No appointment is necessary.

Faculty and staff must pay pay $11 for the shots, but free flu shots are available to any registered UW–Madison student through Wednesday, Nov. 24, at the walk-in clinic on the first floor of UHS, 1552 University Ave., between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Satellite clinic schedule Vaccinations will be available to students, faculty and staff at the Union South satellite clinic Monday, Nov. 8 and Tuesday, Nov. 9. Shots will be administered from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. each day.

Despite all the benefits of getting a flu shot, some people are reluctant to get immunized, says Janet Johnson, a registered nurse at UHS.

“It is hard to counteract the perception that the immunization makes you sicker than the illness, there is the belief in one’s own invincibility, for some it is a fear of needles,” she says. “Many [students] do not bother until they have had influenza once and for the first time they know that it is worth the effort to avoid being that ill. I think that a lot of people think that it is not that big a deal to have “the flu.”

Other myths about the immunization make students wary of getting the shot, says Craig Roberts, UHS community health director. “You cannot get influenza from the vaccine. This is the middle of ‘cold season’ though, so lots of people will be getting respiratory infections during a time when they also get a flu shot. Sometimes people blame it on the shot, but it’s only coincidence.”

Johnson also points out that many people think flu is a stomach illness, when it really is a highly contagious respiratory illness. Symptoms include fever, chills, cough, sore throat, headache and muscle aches.

Possible side effects of the vaccination include fever, aches, and localized soreness, redness, or swelling where the shot was given. Most people experience no serious problems and side effects are usually mild and last only a day or two.

“The only significant side effect of the shot is a sore arm and this is true with any vaccine,” says Roberts.