With flu season quickly approaching, St. Thomas Health Services will be offering flu vaccinations on campus for students, faculty and staff, yet some students are at odds with whether or not to get vaccinated.

Madonna McDermott, nurse practitioner at Health Services, said it is beneficial to be vaccinated.

“It’s not a 100 percent (chance), but when you live in an environment and work in an environment where you have people living in close quarters, it is an environment that can produce infectious diseases like influenza,” McDermott said. “The more people we have vaccinated, the less likely it is we are going to have an outbreak.”

Junior Zachary Jones said he has been vaccinated in the past and will likely receive the shot again this year.

“I’ve never gotten the flu, so I’ve always assumed it’s the flu shot working,” Jones said.

But sophomore Maria Hill said she won’t be getting vaccinated this year.

“I’m not too big of a fan of the flu shot because there are several different strains of the flu, and I’m not sure if this shot is going to cover all of the strains,” Hill said.

McDermott said many people regret not choosing to get the flu shot.

“That’s generally the case for most people until they develop influenza,” McDermott said. “And then they’ll say, ‘Why didn’t I protect myself?’”

However, senior Ali Olson said she will not receive a flu shot this year and does not intend on getting one in the future, even if she were to contract the flu this year.

“I don’t think I would change my mind if I did end up getting the flu,” Olson said. “I kind of just think it’s something that if it happens, it happens.”

On the St. Paul campus, the clinics run five more days throughout October from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Room 237 in the Anderson Student Center. The Minneapolis campus is offering one more clinic Nov. 5 in Room 150 in Terrence Murphy Hall.

McDermott encouraged those who would like to be vaccinated to attend one of the clinics or contact Health Services.

“The flu vaccine, because it is preventive care, is covered under the Affordable Care Act, so almost everybody’s insurance should cover that,” McDermott said.

Kathleen Murphy can be reached at murp0003@stthomas.edu.