High-dose and egg-free flu vaccines available for employees

Getting your annual flu shot is one of most important things you can do to prevent the spread of influenza. VUMC faculty and staff need to receive their flu shot or have an approved exemption by Dec. 1, but the CDC recommends that, if possible, people be vaccinated by the end of October. Flu vaccines are available now through multiple channels that you can learn about on the Employee Influenza Vaccine Program website.

This year, there are several types of flu vaccine available to serve employees with different needs. The standard dose Quadrivalent (four-component) vaccine is available and designed to protect against four different flu viruses, two influenza A viruses and two influenza B viruses.

For those who are age 65 and over, the high-dose flu vaccine is also available. High dose flu vaccine has four times the standard dose and can be more effective in preventing influenza in those 65 and older. If you would like to receive the high dose vaccine, please request it of your vaccinator.

The standard dose and high-dose vaccines are available at Occupational Health Clinic (OHC) locations (at main campus and One Hundred Oaks) and on-site events, as well as providers’ offices, Vanderbilt Health Walk-in Clinics, and Vanderbilt Health Clinics at Walgreens locations. Peer vaccinators on your unit may not have high-dose vaccine, so please check with your peer vaccinator; if they do not have high-dose vaccine available, you can go to an Occupational Health Clinic location to receive it. 

For those with egg allergies, Occupational Health also offers the egg-free flu vaccine, which can be obtained by visiting the Occupational Health Clinic main clinic location in Suite 640 of the Medical Arts Building.

To find OHC locations and on-site events where you can obtain your flu vaccine, visit our webpage with full location details, and also be sure to check out the searchable “OHC Comes to You” calendar, which is a helpful resource where you can view a list of all OHC on-site event locations both on and off the main VUMC campus.

For full details about this year’s FLUla-2-Uza campaign, visit https://www.vumc.org/health-wellness/employee-influenza-vaccine-program.