Yesterday a streaming line of anxious students snaked its way out of the Newcomb Hall Ballroom, along the third-floor corridor and sometimes out the double doors and into the cool wind of autumn.
It rivaled a line emanating from a woman's bathroom during the intermission of a Final Four basketball game. But no. Armed with clipboards and blue pens in hand, the jacketed students were filling out applications.
Thursday was none other than the University's annual Vaccine Day, sponsored by Student Health: a celebration of the heyday of science and medicine. Time for supposedly grown adults to face longstanding childish fears of those sterile silvery needles.
A host of vaccines were offered: meningitis, flu, hepatitis B, measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) and tetanus/diptheria. An overwhelming number of students took advantage of the one-day-only service.
Influenza vaccines are recreated each year, tailored to the idiosyncrasies of the constantly changing flu viruses. The protection lasts approximately for a year, guarding against every student's fear of contracting the virus during the already stressful finals week.
In the evening, however, the line had not dwindled, but had increased to staggering proportions. At 5:30 p.m. the line had extended itself, emitting from the ballroom, wrapping down the hallway and back, and then circling up to the Formal Lounge. Students flipped through gray copies of the Course Offering Directory or talked with neighboring friends to pass the time.
Second-year College student Zane Johnson stood in line for the flu shot. "My mother usually makes me get a flu shot," he said.
Looking down the hallway, Johnson looked optimistic about the multitude of bodies ahead of him: "It's rather long, but it seems to be moving fairly quickly," he said. "At least we can get vaccinations, we're not a Third World country, we can get a flu shot after only standing in line for 40 minutes and giving $20, which isn't very much to ask for."
He has a point.
But Johnson is at the tail end of the line. Fifth-year Education student Meredith Willey had only about 20 people in front of her before she would enter those coveted ballroom doors.
Willey was getting the flu and meningitis shot, having last received the latter three years ago. Checking her watch, she said that she had already been in line for 40 minutes.
Not everyone, however, chose to take advantage of the immunizations. Several frustrated students took themselves out of line, refusing to wait any longer. One girl walked by a prominent sign for the event and said to her friend in a tone of trepidation, "The immunization uses needles, right? I'm so not going."
Read More
It’s okay not to be okay
By Mai Hukuoka | YesterdayWhether talking to a friend, a loved one or a professional, it is so necessary, and human, to need more than you can provide for yourself.
Taking a break at Tangerines Kitchen
By Charley Thomas | 3 days agoWhat the restaurant somewhat lacks in ambiance, it compensates for in tasty dishes and prompt service.
Virginia Policy Lab — a hub for student-led policy action
By Katherine Haden | December 9, 2024Students propose their own projects and collaborate with other members to research their issues of interest, brainstorm solutions and write policy proposals.
