OUSA will build upon the success of their 2016 flu vaccination pilot scheme to provide free vaccinations to roughly 2,500 students at a cost to the association of approximately $50,000.
The 2016 pilot scheme provided 150 free flu jabs to students in late May, and was part of former President Laura Harris’s election promise. The pilot was intended to gauge interest in order to determine whether it could be extended to a larger segment of the student body in 2017.
The initiative, which began last Friday and will continue until the end of the first semester, will save each recipient $20, and will be administered on a ‘first come first served basis’, according to OUSA Welfare Officer Danielle Pope, who has been busy organising the scheme through the first quarter of the year.
OUSA President Hugh Baird said that “there will be a screening process to make sure that those who are able to receive free vaccinations through existing medical conditions will not impact into our costings.”
Pope advised students that they simply “need to ring Student Health and ask for a flu vaccination appointment,” but warned them that “there may be a wait of up to three weeks, depending on demand.”
“By providing the opportunity for a large volume of students to choose to be vaccinated,” Pope explained, “we can also help prevent transmission to students who haven’t been vaccinated.”
“OUSA hopes that by providing free vaccines to students we can help pave the way for a more established program which will continue to benefit students in the future.”
Baird did admit there was a logistical problem of “being able to store the needed vaccine and being able to pull in extra nurses and administrative staff to be able to administer the vaccinations and sort the relevant paperwork in regards to loading vaccinations on to medical files.”
The scheme mirrors Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association’s (VUWSA) efforts, who have been providing free flu shots since 2004; in 2015, the association provided 2,700 vaccinations to both staff and students.