The pandemic’s impact on our daily lives, like the quarantine and mandated mask-wearing, means we have had limited exposure in the last few years to seasonal flu viruses. Experts expect that this particular flu season may be worse due to lower levels of circulating antibodies. So far, their predictions haven’t been far off with this year’s rate of outpatient medical visits related to flu twice as high as the average of the previous five years. With influenza and SARS-CoV-2 viruses circulating at the same time, vaccination against both is needed to mitigate against overburdening healthcare systems as well as the threat to the health and safety of the public-at-large.
To steward this effort in promoting uptake of the flu vaccine, an interprofessional partnership among UCI’s Program in Public Health, School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, and the Student Health Center, came together to launch a campus-wide, pop-up flu vaccine clinic for students before the winter season. Throughout October and November, student volunteers from each partnering unit worked at pop-ups clinics along Ring Road to offer flu vaccines to the UCI student body – the majority of the vaccines covered through UCSHIP. In total, the efforts resulted in nearly 1,900 flu vaccines being administered over the two month period. Additional health information was given to students on sexual health, monkeypox, and COVID-19, and students were also able to pick-up complimentary COVID-19 antigen tests.
At last year’s pop-up clinic, which spanned over three days, nearly 400 vaccines were administered. Taking into account the strong demand from last year’s clinic and the heightened awareness of this year’s flu season, there was a roughly 370% increase in vaccines administered compared to last year. Although there were significantly more days of vaccines being offered in 2022 compared to 2021, the campus collaboration to vaccinate its students has grown significantly.
Efforts to increase the uptake of the flu vaccine among university students, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, delivers protective effects for both individuals and the wider community. Even more promising is the continued interprofessional collaboration within the UCI health sciences community. The appealing premise of interprofessional education is that once healthcare professionals begin to work together in a collaborative manner, patient care will improve. With the fallout from COVID-19 on our public health infrastructure and healthcare system, IPE initiatives and collaboration are needed now more than ever as we enter a new world of public health.
