Between 1:30 and 3:30pm on Tuesday, November 19th, the main lobby of Oakland Hall doubled as a flu shot clinic for students at the University of Maryland. The clinic was run by the University Health Center here on campus, who aimed to vaccinate 150 students by the end of the two hour time slot. Students were asked to line up, sign in, and provide a copy of their insurance information.
Photo by Julia Bischoff
For many here on campus, especially those that live on the far ends, venturing to the health center, CVS, or Target can be quite a hike. Not to mention that the health center can be intimidating, and occasionally hard to navigate.
“People might not be familiar with the health center or able to make it there,” says Heather Teitelbaum, Clinical Director here at UMD, “but our goal with this clinic is to make it more accessible.”
Photo by Julia Bischoff
Since the clinic was on North Campus, it hopefully opened up the possibility for more students to get out and get their flu shot. What people might not realize is that it is still not too late to get your flu shot. The prime time is between the months of October and November, but it is still worth it to get the flu shot all the way through January. For many students, it is something they had been looking to knock off their to do lists anyway.
If it was not possible for you to make it to this clinic, there are plenty of other options nearby. The health center has open appointments that are fairly frequent and can be made through their online portal, in person, or by calling (301) 314-8114. However, if the times provided by the health center do not fit in your schedule there is always Target or CVS. Whichever method works for you, it is crucial to receive the flu vaccine.
“I always do my best to get my flu shot,” said Freshman Lurr Ragean, “and it was so convenient I had to come.”
Photo by Julia Bischoff
It seems as though the clinic itself was quite a success. As the doors were opened, students began trickling in, and soon enough there was a well established line. In just a short period of 15 minutes, they had cycled through quite a few students. At that rate it appears as though they definitely reached their goal of at least 150 patients.
“This is kind of a little preliminary experiment. Depending on how we do today, we might open it up to hosting clinics across campus,” says Teitelbaum.
Whether there are more clinics like these in the future or not, we can hope that this will set a precedent for Terps to take responsibility for their own health and wellness. After all, the University Health Center put it best: Nothing’s Slower Than a Sick Turtle!