Flu Vaccination Deadline Approaching
Read FAQs and answers about our policies and procedures
Don’t surrender to the flu.
Faculty, residents, staff and volunteers who haven’t received a flu vaccination by Oct. 30 will be required to wear a surgical/procedural mask in patient care areas during flu season, which runs through April 30.
CAN I GET A NO-COST FLU VACCINATION AT UF HEALTH?
Yes. In October, UF Health Shands Occupational Health Services and the UF Student Health Care Center co-host multiple flu vaccination events at UF Health. When both OHS and SHCC staff are on site, all UF faculty, staff and students; UF Health Shands employees and volunteers; and credentialed ARNPs, physician assistants and medical staff can receive a no-cost flu vaccination.
Additionally, the following staff can visit OHS in UF Health Shands Hospital Room 1004 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday to receive a free flu shot with their employee ID badge:
- UF Health Shands employees and volunteers
- UF Health Physicians employees
- UF College of Medicine faculty physicians, residents and fellows
- Credentialed ARNPs
- Credentialed physician assistants
- Credentialed medical staff
HOW CAN I SHOW THAT I RECEIVED MY VACCINATION?
When you receive your vaccination at UF Health, you’ll be provided with a new orange sticker to display on your ID badge. If you received your flu shot elsewhere, please submit proof of vaccination to OHS to get your sticker.
IF I OPT OUT OF THE FLU VACCINATION, WHERE WILL I HAVE TO WEAR A MASK?
If you choose to opt out of flu vaccination, please visit Flu Central at Bridge.UFHealth.org/flu for details about the declination process. You will be required to wear a mask in UF Health Shands and UF Health Physicians patient care areas, including:
- Admissions and registration areas
- Examination and procedure rooms
- Inpatient units
- Open care areas such as holding/waiting areas and post-anesthesia care units
- Patient waiting areas
- Outpatient practices and programs
- Off-site home care settings
Our leaders will not surrender to the flu! (From left) Ed Jimenez, UF Health Shands CEO; Irene Alexaitis, D.N.P., R.N., NEA-BC, UF Health Shands Hospital chief nursing officer and Nursing and Patient Services vice president; Joseph A. Tyndall, M.D., M.P.H., FACEP, FAAEM, UF College of Medicine interim dean and professor and chair of emergency medicine; and David R. Nelson, M.D., interim senior vice president for health affairs at UF and president of UF Health.
“The influenza virus functions differently than other viruses as it is constantly changing. There is an effort to predict what viruses will circulate each season based on information about flu viruses from the previous season. The important thing to know is that even if the prediction is not a perfect match, you are provided protection by receiving a flu vaccine. Each year that you receive a flu vaccine, you build upon that protection.
“Each year, adults and children die from influenza. Last year in Florida, all the children who died from influenza were unvaccinated. Nationally, 80 percent of the children who died were not fully vaccinated. Although the flu vaccine is not as effective against prevention of illness as other vaccines, it is associated with substantial reduction in severe outcomes such as hospitalization, ICU admission and death.”
— Michele Lossius, M.D., FAAP, UF College of Medicine clinical assistant professor of pediatrics
