VIDEO: UM Students Can Get Flu Shots All Over Campus

Flu season typically starts up in October and could last until March. The Health Center is ramping up for the season by giving out flu shots all over campus.
“The more people we can get vaccinated the better,” Resident Pharmacist Chad Westmoreland said. “Because if you get vaccinated, not only is it going to help you, it’s going to help other people—you know, prevent other people from getting it from you.”
Flu prevention starts with one simple task.
“We cannot stress it enough,” Westmoreland said. “Please, please, please wash your hands. It’s the primary focus in order not to spread those germs out there and infect someone or yourself.”
However, the number-one prevention would be the flu shot, which requires no appointment. A shot can be set up at various places around campus, including the Health Center.
But skeptics can rest easy about one concern.
“There’s a common misconception that the flu shot gives you the flu,” Westmoreland said. “That’s not the case at all. It gives you a dead version of the virus, which gives your body the ability to produce the antibodies to start fighting off the flu if you’re exposed to it.”
Some students around campus are bracing for the flu season and recognize that getting a shot is important to their health.
“Obviously you get [the shot] not to get the flu,” sophomore Anna Daniels said. “I think it’s important to take care of yourself and your health. This is just another thing that’ll help with that.”
The health center hasn’t seen any cases of the flu so far, but they’re preparing themselves for the inevitable. “It [the flu] has hit on other universities like the University of Southern Mississippi, we’ve heard,” Westmoreland said. “And although it hasn’t hit our campus yet, we know it’s coming. It will hit—it’s just a matter of time.”
To receive treatment for the flu, students can visit the health center from Monday through Friday. The sooner one detects the symptoms of the flu, preferably within 48 hours, the faster the medicine can get to work and shorten the illness.

Torrence Rees is a journalism major at Ole Miss.