With flu season just around the corner, USC is taking steps to prevent illness from spreading among students by mandating the flu shot. Here’s Meredith McCabe with the story.
Starting tomorrow, anyone who wants to get on to USC’s campus has to show proof of a flu shot. No flu shot, no pass on Trojan check.
USC sent out an email on September 28th letting students know about the required flu shot due November 1st.
Only about 1 out of 7 of universities nationwide requires students to get the shot. Among those requiring it are the UC schools. USC’s Chief Health Officer Dr. Sarah Van Orman said that as of last week, only about a third of USC undergrads had fulfilled their flu shot requirement.
Students were given one month’s notice to get the shot, but some like sophomore computer science major Eric Zhou complain about the long waits to receive it.
“So we had to basically line up in the Lyon Center and that wait, it was like an hour. So it was, it was, it was around an hour or something like that, maybe like 45 minutes. But it wasn’t that pleasant to be fair because we’re all just sitting on the bleachers inside the Lyon, the Lyon gym area.”
Other students have said that it’s hard to even get an appointment in the first place. Even pharmacies like CVS are running low on supply, and USC student health only offers so many appointments per day. Junior health promotion and disease prevention major Juliette Scolieri got her flu shot a few days ago but recognizes that it hasn’t been that easy for everyone.
“I do think it might be a little bit harder if you don’t have a car or someone to drive you, because now the appointments are pretty full, so you kind of have to go further. So that might be an issue.”
Despite these inconveniences, students like Annenberg freshman Yuka Miyamoto still see the benefits of protecting themselves and others from the flu.
“I think it’s a good thing, especially because I’m in a dorm, a freshman dorm, and so we’re all living in close quarters. If one person gets something, we all get it. So I think it’s a pretty good thing that it’s required.”
With the continuing presence of Covid-19, it’s easy for us to lose focus on preventing the spread of typical illnesses like the common cold or the flu. However, the CDC points out that the flu vaccine is still the best way to prevent the awful body aches, fevers and sometimes hospitalizations that come with the flu. So if you haven’t yet gotten your flu shot, you might have some trouble getting onto campus tomorrow. For Annenberg Media, I’m Meredith McCabe.