UF health center to start offering flu vaccine shots today

Starting today, UF students and staff can get free vaccination shots.

The Student Health Care Center will offer shots at its building on Fletcher Drive.

Shots will also be administered at outreach events that will take place on various dates at the UF Health Shands Atrium, UF Health Shands South Tower, UF Health Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Institute, Health Professions/Nursing/Pharmacy Complex and UF Health Shands Radiation Oncology.

Students and faculty will need their Gator 1 Cards and proof of health insurance to receive flu shots at the SHCC and outreach clinics.

This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending people not get the nasal vaccination, said Catherine Seemann, the SHCC communications coordinator. The CDC recommended against using the vaccine earlier this year due to its lower effectiveness.

The SHCC will hold its largest vaccination event Sept. 16 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in front of the infirmary, she said. The center will give shots through September and possibly October, depending on the number of vaccines available.

Seemann suggested students who may be skeptical of getting vaccinated make their own health care decisions and not be influenced by peers. It is normal for students to have doubts and fears, she said.

“Talk to a health care professional,” she said. “Do your own research.”

Nicole Smyrock, a UF nursing sophomore, said she’ll be getting her flu shot.

“With so many sicknesses going on, it’s important to get vaccinated,” the 19-year-old said.

To see the full list of dates, times and locations to get vaccinated, visit shcc.ufl.edu.