The Occupational Health Clinic has kicked off its flu vaccine campaign. Staff, faculty and medical students can get a flu
vaccine in the tent on the plaza in front of the Eskind Library through Oct.
10, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, said Valerie Thayer, R.N., who
heads up Vanderbilt’s flu vaccine program.
Everyone coming to get a shot should have his or her ID badge.
“Influenza is a serious disease,” Thayer said. “Each year in the United States on average 5 to 20 percent of the population gets
the flu, more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications, and
about 36,000 people die from the flu.
“The Occupational Health Clinic does not want the faculty and staff at Vanderbilt
to become flu statistics.”
The flu vaccine will be available in the office of Occupational Health Clinic
weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. beginning Oct. 13, and at several other sites
on campus:
• The tent on the terrace of the Buttrick Building on Oct. 22 and 23 from 9 a.m.
to 4 p.m.
• The tent at the Commons West patio on the Peabody campus on Oct. 23 and 24 from
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• The lobby of the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital, Oct. 15 through 17 from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
There will also be several other opportunities for people whose workplace is
away from campus, as well as a traveling flu vaccine cart for night and weekend
staff, Thayer said. There will also be prizes awarded to faculty or staff
members who get their first flu shot.
Thayer said that it takes about two weeks for your body to develop immunity from
the vaccine.
For more information on a site that is convenient for you, consult the flu
calendar on the OHC Web site: www.occhealth.vanderbilt.edu. The site also has information on common flu myths and a consent form that you
can download to save you time when you arrive for your vaccine.
