Are you considering getting your  flu shot? The 2019/2020 flu shot is now obtainable at the Health Center on campus.

Some avoid shots altogether out of fear or uncertainty. Others dive in willingly to keep themselves out of harms way and to keep others safe and healthy.

Regardless of where you stand, we should all be taking responsibility to take care of ourselves for the benefit of the thousands around us specifically here at Northern and the city of Marquette.

NMU’s website encourages students to wash their hands, use hand sanitizer and to cough or sneeze in their arm or away from others to stop the potential spread of a virus.

If you haven’t already noticed, when one person has a virus, it doesn’t take long, or much, to go around.

Look out for symptoms of the flu. These include a high fever, chills, cough, sore throat, headache, body ache, fatigue, runny nose and occasional intestinal complaints. Most who become ill will suffer these symptoms for several days and recover fully in a week or so, according to NMU’s website.

Getting a flu shot is not just for yourself, but to protect the elderly, immunocompromised, newborns and others who are not able to get the shot even if they wanted.

It’s also important to understand the facts behind the shot and not just siding with what you hear.

NMU’s website states that receiving the shot can in no way “give you the flu.” Because it takes 10 to 14 days for the immunity to develop, it’s encouraged that if you are considering the flu shot, you should get the vaccine as soon as possible and use precautions.

To make an appointment at the Health Center, you can call 227-2355. Walk-in appointments are available as well from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. or 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on week days. Cost is dependent upon insurance.