Columbus-area college hopes to tamp down flu with free shots

While many universities are helping students avoid Covid-19, one in central Ohio has also taken steps to keep a seasonal bug at bay.

Otterbein University in Westerville is offering all its students free flu shots, thanks to a group of donors who are providing the cash for the vaccinations.

“With the coronavirus threatening everyone in 2020, we need to do whatever we can to tamp down the seasonal flu to conserve precious healthcare resources needed to fight Covid-19,” said Michael McGreevey, Otterbein’s vice president for institutional advancement. “So we’ve mobilized to remove the cost barrier that might keep some students from getting the shot.”

During the 2018-2019 flu season, just 45.3 percent of adults nationwide got the flu shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among those ages 18 to 49, only 34.9 percent got vaccinated.

Otterbein, a liberal arts school in a suburb of Columbus, wants to ratchet up that percentage to 100 percent for its student body of 3,000.

That goal suits donor Robert Woodruff, an alumnus from the class of 1967.

“I always feel that if you could help someone you should. Everyone should be able to get a flu shot at this critical time,” said Woodruff, who worked at Blendon Middle School in Westerville for 32 years.

McGreevey said that even if they have insurance, students often feel flu shots aren’t necessary if they’re young and healthy. But he said the university is reminding them that getting the vaccination protects those around them as well as themselves.

“Thanks to generous donors, we hope our campus will see far fewer cases of the flu this year,” McGreevey said.