UM News

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (September 18, 2015)—Flu season has arrived, and everybody in the UM community is encouraged to be safe, be wise, and get their flu shots, which are now available at the Healthy ’Canes Employee Clinics for faculty and staff, and the Student Health Service for students. The vaccines also will be available at the Benefits Fair on all three campuses the week of October 12.

“Prevention is the key to promoting greater levels of public health,” UM President Julio Frenk, a physician and public health expert, said last week when he and his wife, Felicia Knaul, got their flu shots. “As we prepare for this year’s flu season, I am delighted to help build awareness about the importance of getting your flu shot.’’

President Frenk’s wife, Felicia Knaul, professor of public health sciences and director of the Miami Institute for the Americas, joined her husband last week in getting a flu shot, administered by registered nurse Reid T. Bladow, from the Student Health Service.

Though the young and old are most vulnerable to the flu, which is caused by a virus and spread mostly by coughing, sneezing, and close contact, anybody can get it and thousands die from it in the U.S. every year. As such, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends almost everyone 6 months and older get a flu shot annually, and the University makes it very easy to do.

“It’s just a simple walk in and walk out,” said Catherine Bridges, the nurse practitioner at the Healthy ’Canes Employee Clinic on the Coral Gables campus, which is open from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. “Nothing to it.”

To make the process even quicker, employees may download and fill out the vaccine consent form they’ll need to get their shots in advance of visiting the clinic. The forms are also available at the clinic, and no appointment is necessary.

All employees who have any contact in any capacity with patients on the Miller School campus and at University hospitals and clinics are required to obtain a flu shot and display a sticker that documents they got one on their ID. The flu shots and stickers are available Monday through Friday at permanent sites in the Employee Health Office, at University of Miami Hospital, and at the Healthy ’Canes Employee Clinic on the Miller School or Gables campuses.

Even though the University offers many options to be vaccinated at no charge, medical employees may get their flu shots from their primary care physician, a local pharmacy, or wherever else they are offered. Just be sure to obtain proof of vaccination and take it to your Employee Health office for a sticker. For more information call 305-243-3400. For more information about the flu vaccine, visit Environmental Health’s Seasonal Flu Vaccine site.