Braden Saint-Val – Contributor
Health Services is once again teaming up with Shop Rite in Hamden to provide flu vaccines to students, faculty, and staff throughout the fall semester.
The first flu clinic of the semester was last Monday in the Health and Human Services Building during the Week of Wellbeing, where health and wellness-centered events happened all around campus.
“Our goal at Health Services is to be able to provide the best level of health services and accessibility for our students that may not be able to access healthcare in other ways,” Linda Sadinsky, a nurse practitioner at the Health Services Department.
“And as far as the flu vaccine, the reason we think it’s so important is because really from a public health standpoint, you know it’s also a very contagious and preventable disease because when you have people living in close quarters, the communicability is much increased,” Sadinsky said.
All you need at the clinic is your prescription and insurance card to receive a flu vaccination from Shop-Rite pharmacists.
“They are an annual vaccine. The flu does circulate every fall. Every year could be a little different. COVID has made the circulation a little less predictable. Last year it started a little early,” said John McCarthy, the pharmacist manager at Shop-Rite in Hamden.
“Even a young healthy person that is probably not going to have a severe case of flu, you are benefiting the other people around you by getting the vaccine.”
The next clinics will be in Morill Hall on Oct. 11 and in Engleman Hall on Nov. 2.
Alongside the flu, COVID-19 has become a mainstay, seasonal disease. Cases and deaths in the past few years have spiked in the fall and winter, and new variants have made the goal of controlling it feel even farther away.
“The COVID vaccine is also recommended. They actually just released a new booster. They will be in pharmacies imminently. We are expecting ours within the next week at Shop-Rite,” McCarthy said.
As always, with the autumn season now in full swing, it is always recommended to wash your hands frequently, avoid close contact with others if you are not feeling well, and wear a mask when needed.