Story by Kayla Walker | Contributing Writer
Middle Tennessee State University Health Services offered the year’s last flu shot clinic Nov. 16 due to a rise in positive flu cases on campus. After hosting their 5th annual free flu shot clinic in October, they noticed a high demand for flu shots on campus.
“We’re still seeing a lot of demand for flu,” Director of Pharmacy Tabby Ragland said. “We’ve seen a lot of students that are positive on campus and that encouraged us to offer an additional free flu clinic. Before everyone leaves to go home for the holidays, we hope that they can get vaccinated so that they can prevent getting the flu before finals.”
Campus Health Services typically host their free flu shot clinic during the fall semester of each year. Faculty, staff and students are welcome to get the flu shot free of charge and no insurance required.
For students who are unable to attend the clinics, the Campus Recreation Atrium offers flu shots daily.
“The faculty and staff clinics are usually held earlier than the students,” Student Health Coach and Wellness Educator Becky Figueroa said. “They have it earlier in the year and the students follow up. We’ve had pretty good turnouts. I think in our busier locations, we’ve done about 100 plus a day. We’ve had some other locations that weren’t quite as busy but had attendees.”
“We offer the flu shot every day in the clinic so that people can come and get it,” Ragland said. “Tennessee has a very high demand and the flu numbers right now is another reason why we wanted to offer it, to get people here on campus to get their flu shot and hopefully keep them well.”
The student health clinic will continue to provide the flu vaccine to faculty, staff and students on campus, no appointment is necessary.
“It really shows that MTSU cares about our health,” physical education major Martaveon Dockery said. “It also shows their consideration for students who come from different cities and states or students who don’t have a primary doctor in the area.”
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