Student Health Center orders extra flu vaccines

UPDATED: Nov. 13, 10:46 a.m. Vaccines cost $10, and are available at the Student Health Center by appointment at (818) 710-4270.

Pierce College Student Health Center has ordered an additional 50 preservative-free flu vaccines, according to Director of the Student Health Center Beth Benne.

Benne said the Student Health Center had originally ordered 100 flu vaccines in mid-October, but didn’t order as many as they usually would because of the Affordable Care Act.

“I thought more students would have health insurance this year, and they would be able to get it for free at their provider’s office,” Benne said. “But you can’t beat the convenience [of Pierce College], and sometimes the providers can’t get you in for several weeks.”

The original 100 vaccines that were ordered were gone in four to five weeks, according to Benne. But she ordered an additional 50 vaccines, and will potentially order more if the flu-shots are in demand.

There are two types of flu vaccines, but Pierce only uses the injectable inactive virus, according to Benne.

“The inactive, which is what we gave, works in three to four weeks,” Benne said. “It technically can’t make you sick.”