Flu (Influenza) Shots

Flu Shots for Everybody

Flu shots no longer available from the SHCC. This information will be updated should more vaccine be made available.

Check with local pharmacies and/or community providers for availability. Many insurance companies will cover the cost of a flu shot — contact your insurance company for more information.

The SHCC is committed to a supporting a healthy campus. From September 2012 through January 2013, the SHCC administered close to 9,000 flu shots to UF students, faculty and staff.

CDC says take action to fight the flu

After getting a flu shot, the CDC urges you to take the following actions to protect yourself and others from influenza (the flu). Visit www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/preventing.htm for more information.

Take everyday preventive actions to stop the spread of germs.

  • Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
  • If you are sick with flu-like illness, CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.)
  • While sick, limit contact with others as much as possible to keep from infecting them.
  • Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Germs spread this way.
  • Clean and disinfect surfaces and objects that may be contaminated with germs like the flu.

Annual flu shot campaign

Even healthy people can get the flu, and it can be serious. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends everyone 6 months and older get the flu vaccine every year, which includes protection against multiple strains. And while their own symptoms may be mild or nonexistent, college students may spread the flu to those at high risk of flu complications such as grandparents, younger siblings or those with health conditions like asthma or diabetes before they even know they are infected.

For detailed information about flu shot (Influenza Vaccine – Inactivated) and flu mist (Influenza Vaccine – Live, Intranasal) benefits and risks, please review the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vaccine Information Statements on these two influenza vaccination methods.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

    Will the flu shot or mist make me sick? No, you cannot get the flu from the flu shot or the nasal spray. The flu shot contains inactivated (killed) flu viruses that cannot cause illness. The nasal spray contains weakened live viruses. The weakened viruses only cause infection in the cooler temperatures found in the nose. The viruses cannot infect the lungs or other areas in the body where warmer temperatures exist.

    Does the flu vaccine work right away? It takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body and provide protection against influenza virus infection. In the meantime, you are still at risk for getting the flu. That’s why it’s better to get vaccinated early in the fall, before the flu season really gets under way.

    Is this season’s vaccine a good match for circulating viruses? As of the first week in January 2013, most (91%) of the influenza viruses that have been analyzed at CDC are like the inactive (killed) viruses included in the 2012-2013 influenza vaccine. The match between the vaccine virus and circulating viruses is one factor that impacts how well the vaccine works.

    Is the vaccine safe? Seasonal flu vaccines have a very good safety track record. Although there are possible side-effects to vaccination, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration closely monitor the safety of seasonal flu vaccines.

    What does the 2012-2013 flu vaccine protect against? Flu vaccines are designed to protect against three flu viruses that experts predict will be the most common during the upcoming season. Each year, one flu virus of each kind is used to produce the seasonal flu vaccine. The 2012-2013 flu vaccine is made from the following three viruses: 1) A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)-like virus; 2) A/Victoria/361/2011 (H3N2)-like virus; and 3) B/Wisconsin/1/2010-like virus. The 2012-2013 flu vaccine will not protect against the H3N2v flu, associated with exposure to swine, which resulted in more than 200 flu cases in 2011 and 2012.

    For more information, visit www.flu.gov.