UHS to Offer Free Flu Shots at Dining Halls

As flu season descends upon Cambridge, University Health Services (UHS) will be setting up free flu shot clinics around campus for the entire Harvard community this year.

The program follows a successful trial program conducted last year offering free flu shots to students and faculty outside of UHS' Holyoke Center offices.

The flu shots will benefit "students and those who live or work in a communal setting," according to a statement issued by UHS, which has selected University dining halls as ideal locations for their clinics.

The flu shot clinic program kicked off yesterday evening in Annenberg Hall where first-year students lined up to get their shots.

Thomas J. Mucha '03 said he was receptive to the idea of getting a shot in his dining hall.

"Dinner and a flu shot, kind of like a date from the twilight zone. It's a good place to do it, you can't avoid the dining hall," Mucha said.

Another student stressed the convenience of the Annenberg location.

"I actually think it's really convenient. I wouldn't have made the trek to UHS," Elizabeth T. B. Murphy '03 said.

With free service in these new, convenient locations, UHS expects many students to visit the clinics. To accommodate the large numbers of students, two nurses will be stationed at each clinic, prepared to give anywhere from 60 to 70 shots per hour.

Nurses are not only responsible for administering the shots, however, but will also answer any questions about influenza or the effects of the shot as a part of a UHS effort to increase education about the virus.

Barbara Boothby, acting manager of the Center for Wellness and Health Communications, stressed the necessity of informing students about influenza.

"This is a new recommendation for students living in a dormitory setting. Usually [only] people over 60 or people with a chronic disease are recommended for flu shots," Boothby said.

As a result, Boothby said she expects students to have questions, and the nurses are there to answer them.

UHS is expecting great results from the outreach program, which aims to create a much more comfortable winter season for the Harvard community. "If we immunize people, we're not going to see the flu," said Donna Campbell, infection control surveillance officer at UHS.

During dinner meal today, first-year students can access the clinics at Annenberg today, while upperclass students can choose between Eliot, Currier and Mather dining halls on Oct. 20, 21 and 22, respectively. Loker Commons will also be hosting a clinic from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 22.

Flu shot clinics at other Harvard faculties include stations at the Business School's Cunnock Hall from 2 to 5 p.m. on Oct. 19, 26 and 28. The Law School's Lewis Center 2 will be providing shots from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Oct. 13, from 12 to 2 p.m. on Oct. 20, and from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 22. In addition, any student or faculty member can go to UHS to receive a free flu shot at any time.