By Sydney Matthews | Staff Writer
Baylor Health Services mobile flu shot clinic will be taking place Wednesday, Feb. 8 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the first floor of the Bill Daniel Student Center (SUB) outside of the Multicultural Affairs office.
“We are expecting another spike in flu cases next month,” Dr. Sharon Stern, Health Services medical director, said. “The reason for this is because when it is cold, people bundle together and because of events like Sing, people are crammed into rooms together.”
This year, there are three different respiratory illnesses nationwide — the flu, RSV and COVID-19. Making the flu vaccine is necessary to keep students in class.
“We always see flu in February and March, getting the flu shot keeps students healthy and keeps them in class,” Director of Nursing Nancy Keating said. “The flu can take students out of class for a week or so.”
Baylor Health Services runs mobile health clinics every year to make it more convenient for students. Stern said she still encourages students to make an appointment beforehand to ensure there are enough supplies on site.
“We have done mobile flu clinics for 15 years, we typically only do them in the fall semester starting in October,” Stern said. “We had our largest response last year. We are concerned about the spike in flu this spring so we decided to do this one.”
Although flu vaccinations are always available in the McLane Student Life Center (SLC), Stern and Keating both said this will be the final mobile flu shot clinic of the season.
Keating said they are expecting around 1,500 students to attend.
According to the health services website, to get a flu vaccine, students can either register online and fill out the paperwork or just show up to the flu shot clinic. Appointments can be made in advance through the Health Portal on the Baylor Health Center website.
“Students do not have to worry about bringing anything to the SUB the day of the clinic,” Keating said. “If you do have insurance, you can bring it with you or email it to health_services@baylor,edu [however,] there will be no charge for the vaccine.”
