University Health Services has expanded its annual flu shot and COVID-19 vaccine clinic locations to additional on-campus sites ahead of peak flu season.
The clinics began Sept. 23 and will continue across campus through Oct. 27. Flu shots cost $15 for uninsured students and faculty. Otherwise, the vaccine is free with most insurance plans, including the Student Health Insurance Plan and UT Select, a medical plan for active UT employees.
The clinics will continue each week throughout October in Dell Medical School, Gregory Gym, the Texas Union, the Student Services Building and the LBJ School of Public Affairs. One clinic this Wednesday will also take place at the J.J. Pickle Research Campus.
Susan Hochman, UHS assistant vice president, said the clinics help support UHS’s mission of enhancing “the health and well-being of students’ bodies, minds and lives,” specifically by keeping students healthy so they can do well academically.
“We know that (the) flu is something that can keep students out of class, and we know that peak flu season often happens during midterms or finals,” Hochman said. “We really want to protect our students and make sure that their health doesn’t become a barrier to their academic performance.”
A support team of nurses was hired for the pop-ups, including some former or current UHS employees and others from outreach clinics. Registered nurse Charlotte Katzin, who worked as nurse manager of the UT Allergy, Immunization and Travel Clinic for 20 years, is one of the former UHS employees who returned to work as a vaccinator.
“Anybody can put a needle in someone’s arm,” Katzin said. “But as a nurse, it’s really about educating people about what vaccine they’re getting, dispelling myths about vaccines (and) answering all those frequently asked questions that people come up with about it.”
The clinics began about a month into the school year, when students are likely to get sick. Biology freshman Austin Chiu said he noticed a wave of sickness in his peers, which motivated him to get vaccinated.
“There’s a lot of people coughing … and I really don’t want to catch the flu,” Chiu said.
Hochman and Katzin said they hope the clinics will help to protect the larger campus community.
“Our goal is to make sure that we are making it convenient for faculty and staff and students to get vaccinated,” Hochman said. “We want to always make the healthy choice, the easy choice, and so this is a way that they’re not having to go out of their way to get vaccinated.’