University of St. Thomas cares about your health, this means getting a flu vaccine during 2020-2021 is more important than ever. We should do everything we can to prevent the flu, and getting a flu shot is the best way to do that. Getting a flu shot also helps protect family members who are at risk of respiratory disease.

It is likely that flu viruses will spread this fall and winter. Healthcare systems could be overwhelmed treating patients with flu and COVID-19.

There are many important benefits, such as:

1. Flu vaccines have been shown to reduce the risk of flu illness, hospitalization, and death.
2. Getting a flu vaccine can also save healthcare resources for the care of patients with COVID-19.
3. Flu vaccine prevents millions of illnesses and flu-related doctor’s visits each year. For example, during 2018-2019, flu vaccination prevented an estimated 4.4 million influenza illnesses, 2.3 million influenza-associated medical visits, 58,000 influenza-associated hospitalizations, and 3,500 influenza-associated deaths.
4. During seasons when the flu vaccine viruses are similar to circulating flu viruses, flu vaccine has been shown to reduce the risk of having to go to the doctor with flu by 40 percent to 60 percent.
5. Getting vaccinated yourself may also protect people around you, including those who are more vulnerable to serious flu illness, like infants and young children, elderly, and people with certain chronic health conditions.
6. Despite the many benefits offered by flu vaccination, only about half of Americans get an annual flu vaccine and flu continues to cause millions of illnesses, hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and tens of thousands of deaths. Many more people could be protected from flu if more people got vaccinated.

Be Active. Be Well. Be a Healthy Celt!

UST Flu Shots Administration:

Date: October 14, 2020

Time: 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Location: Jerabek Center – 2^nd Floor Scanlan Room

Flu shots are offered by The Christus Foundation for Healthcare in conjunction with the School of Nursing and are open to members of the UST community.

All vaccine recipients are requested to provide a donation of one of the following items for Angela House residents, such as:

 • Zip Lock Bags (gallon, quart, sandwich) • Paper Towels 13-Gallon Trash Bags (White) • Dishwashing Liquid • Coffee Creamer Sugar (2 or 5 lb. size) • Black Pepper • Toilet Paper • Body Wash • Laundry Detergent • Hand Sanitizer

References for the studies listed above can be found at Publications on Influenza Vaccine Benefits. Also, see the A Strong Defense Against Flu: Get Vaccinatedpdf icon! fact sheet.