C.W. Post Protects students and faculty from the Flu

By Max Caster
Staff Writer
This fall season the Student Health and Counseling Center is offering flu shots for all C.W. Post students 18 and over. The vaccinations have been available since October 1st and will continue for as long as supplies last. Students must fill out a release and proof of age to receive the 12 dollar shot.
“We’re charging what we pay. We don’t make any money,” explained Bill Milford, the Director of Student Health and Counseling. “Our objective is to make sure the students who want it can get it.”
The true flu season spans from November to February, but the Health Center is getting a jump on the illness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that people with health risks get the flu vaccine in October. All healthy citizens are urged to get it in November.
The Health Center will conduct a traveling flu shot clinic in early November. The clinic will visit the Winnick Student Center and Hillwood Commons during Common Hour to give the injections.
Students who are squeamish around needles are in luck. There is a variation of the syringe that pushes the vaccination through the skin using carbon dioxide. “It’s not like a booster shot where it hurts afterwards” said Nurse Sylvia Barton. She went on to add, “You’re going to feel something or there’s something wrong with your neurological system.” According to the waiver, the side effects to the flu shot are “tenderness at the site of injection, fever, chills, headaches or muscular aches.”
The Center will begin Flu Prevention week on October 25th. Later this month, the Center will have a depression screening on October 7th, Alcohol Awareness Day on the 12th and Domestic Violence Prevention Day on the 19th.
Along with the flu shot, the Health Center provides the C.W. Post community with primary medical care, a gynecologist, free counseling sessions, nutritional guidance and much more. Also offered is blood testing for all sexually transmitted diseases. “If you’re sexually active, you should know where you stand,” Barton said.
The Student Health and Counseling Center is located in room 154 of the Life Science Building and is open from 8am to 8pm during the semester.