Few students took advantage of Wednesday’s free walk-in flu clinic.

Administrative nurse Carol Cheetham said eight students showed up to the Human Services building to attend the daylong event.

Cheetham said the reason most students did not receive a flu shot Wednesday was because they think other people already have the flu and that the window to avoid getting sick has passed.

“We keep trying to tell students they can get the vaccine now and they still may get the flu, but the symptoms and duration of it will be a lot shorter,” Cheetham said.

A previous flu clinic was available last October.

Cheetham said the students who received the flu shot then and still got sick experienced symptoms for a shorter period of time, and were overall not as sick as they could have been.

One of the eight students who got a flu shot was Nigerian international student Seun.

Seun said she has never been exposed to this kind of cold weather before and that was one of the reasons she went in to get a flu shot.

“This is my first time getting a flu shot and I believe it will work,” Seun said. “I’m not sick, but because of the cold weather I need to treat myself. I need to prevent getting sick.”

Once she finished the required paperwork at the desk, Seun said she was fine, there was no soreness and the whole process took under two minutes.

Students can call to make an appointment for a free flu shot with Health Service during their operational hours from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Mike Santoria can be reached at 581-2812 or mtsantoria@eiu.edu