‘Vaxchella’ offers flu and coronavirus vaccines


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Student Health plans to administer 10,000 flu shots to students, faculty and staff this year. In a normal year, Student Health administers around 4,000 to 5,000 flu shots.  (Jonathan Park | Daily Trojan)

USC Student Health and USC Pharmacies launched “Vaxchella,” a walk-in event for students, faculty and staff to receive the updated flu vaccine and bivalent coronavirus booster Monday. The University will host the event on the first floor of Engemann Student Health Center through Oct. 21. In a Tuesday briefing with the Daily Trojan, Chief Student Health Officer Dr. Sarah Van Orman said she hoped the event would provide convenience for community members looking to get vaccinated.

“[For] a lot of people, it is convenient to go to a pharmacy,” Van Orman said. “But for a lot of people, it’s just way more convenient to get it at work.”

The event comes with other weekly flu shot events hosted by Student Health — on Wednesdays at the weekly Trojan Farmers Market and on Tuesdays at the USC Village — in an effort to encourage the community to get the updated vaccines. Van Orman said that while such an effort is “not unusual” and has historically existed, it remains important in lieu of a mandate, which Student Health imposed last year but not this year.

“When we don’t have a mandate for a vaccine — particularly for students who are otherwise young and healthy and don’t really understand why it’s important to get a flu shot — we just try to create a variety of opportunities for people to get flu shots,” Van Orman said. “This [event], though, also serves faculty and staff, and that’s why we’re partnering with the Pharmacies, because … we knew a lot of employees really wanted an opportunity to get their flu shot.”

In regards to influenza vaccination rates in recent years, Van Orman said that last year’s mandate and 2020 being a “strange year” made it difficult to “say too much about trends.” Since 2020, Student Health has been able to access data from the California Immunization Registry, a statewide digital immunization information system for California residents managed by the California Department of Public Health. However, Van Orman said, “tThis is the first year we’ll have a complete picture.”

“In normal years, we give about 4,000 to 5,000 flu shots here at Student Health,” Van Orman said. “If we look at CDC data, [national estimates are that] maybe 10% to 15% of young adults between 18 to 24 get their flu shot. … We know people got their flu shot last year, so we’re trying to really use that as a way to help people stay in the habit of getting their flu shot, even if it’s not required.”

Van Orman said the goal for the event is to administer 1,000 to 2,000 flu shots and coronavirus boosters to students, faculty and staff. In combination with Student Health’s other events and general appointments, the cumulative goal is to administer 10,000 flu shots — just under 15% of the total USC population, based on counts from the 2021-2022 academic year.

Influenza cases are so far appearing “sporadically” at local and national levels, Van Orman said. While exact numbers are not tracked, cases reported to Student Health in the past week are estimated at “less than a dozen.” Student Health instead reports influenza cases as a percentage of respiratory samples that test positive for influenza and a percentage of  patients who visit for influenza-like illness. The method is in accordance with the CDC’s own practices for FluView, the agency’s weekly influenza surveillance report.

“So there’s a baseline of one or two percent,” Van Orman said. “If you get over around three or four percent of visits of ILI, that actually means that you’re starting to see influenza activity in your community.”

Coronavirus cases are continuing to decrease: Student Health received reports of 82 positive tests the week beginning Oct. 2, an 11% decrease from the 91 cases reported the week before.

With the inaugural Sex Week at USC set to begin next Monday, the lineup of events is mostly finalized with a few more “waiting in the wings,” said Rachel Lichtman, associate director of public communications at Student Health, during the briefing. Recognized student organizations are still encouraged to add any last-minute events.