A fever, cough, sore throat: contracting the flu could be a college student’s worst nightmare.
Although Ohio University’s main campus hosts about 20,000 Ohio University students, Amanda Fox, the nurse supervisor at Campus Care, said the university’s student health center has ordered only 500 flu shots for this season — which is in line with the demand seen in previous years.
As of last week, 350 shots had been given.
Campus Care flu shots are complementary to students with university health insurance, Fox said. All OU students are required to hold medical insurance, either privately or through the university.
“Since I live in a dorm now, I don’t want to end up getting sick,” said Maggie McGuiggan, a freshman studying photojournalism.
The small percentage of administered flu shots at Campus Care could be due to students’ fears of the vaccine or that they instead opt for their hometown physician or pharmacy, Fox said.
Besides Campus Care, there are various places within Athens to get a flu shot, such as the OU Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine Community Health Programs, which provides medical and health care services in Southeast Ohio for patients who lack adequate alternatives, according to its website.
The Community Health Program will offer a flu shot clinic at the Plains United Methodist Church, 3 S. North Plains Rd., on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon.
The program also offers flu shots Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Parks Hall Immunization Clinic, Linda Knopp, associate director of communications for OU-HCOM, said in an email.
Both events offer flu shots for $20.00 or a bill to Medicare.
In addition, flu shots are available at CVS, Kroger and The Clinic at Wal-Mart, which is run by Holzer Health System. Flu shots are $31.99, $28 and $25, respectively.
According to flu.gov, a website managed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, flu season usually starts in the fall and peaks in January or February.
About five to 20 percent of U.S. residents contract the flu every year, according to the site.
“I think that flu shots are important,” McGuiggan said. “I probably will be getting them more often now that I’m in college.”
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