March 19, 2024
It’s summertime and everyone is enjoying the warm weather and longer days, free from colds or the flu. So why start thinking about the flu now? Well, because the flu’s effect on your workforce can have a big impact on your employee’s productivity and your overall bottom line. It’s estimated that the flu costs U.S. businesses $7 billion a year due to employee absenteeism and lost productivity.1
That’s why it’s a good idea to have a workplace plan for flu and to start mapping out that plan well before flu season.
“Flu Season”
The flu can happen any time of the year, but in the United States it’s more prevalent in the fall and winter, a time that has been dubbed “flu season.”2 Although flu seasons do share some year-to-year patterns, they also can be somewhat unpredictable, like this past flu season.
The 2018-2019 flu season was the longest in 10 years, beginning in October and not slowing down until well into April.3 This was due in part to two consecutive waves of influenza A (H1N1 and H3N2, respectively) that hit this past season.
Alternatively, some flu seasons see an earlier peak of flu illness, such as the 2009-2010 flu season when cases skyrocketed in September.4 Most people who contracted the flu were sick in the fall, and the cases were more severe than during other seasons.5
So, it's easy to understand why vaccinating employees early helps prepare your workforce well in advance of a coming flu season, especially since it takes about two weeks after a flu shot for a person to develop flu antibodies, which protect against infection.
On-Site Flu Shot Clinics
A great way to protect your workforce is to promote flu prevention. And the best way to prevent the flu is with a flu shot.
Offering a flu shot clinic right in your workplace at no cost to your employees can motivate them to get their annual flu shot. Your on-site flu shot clinic can:
- Reduce costs from employee absenteeism.
- Improve productivity with a healthy workforce.
- Boost morale as employees come together for a shared goal of good health.
For employees, getting their flu shot at work benefits them by:
- Protecting them from the flu, which in turn protects others.
- Having an easy and convenient way to get immunized.
- Offering a free way to promote good health
If the thought of hosting an on-site flu shot clinic – complete with planning, transporting the vaccine, and administering shots – seems too daunting of a task, don’t worry. You have plenty of options. And one of those options is by having a trusted healthcare provider host the clinic for you.
MedExpress Can Help You
We take the work out of planning and implementing a flu shot clinic at your business by sending our highly-trained and friendly medical team to you. We offer a range of episodic on-site clinics – including flu shot clinics.
Our on-site medical team members are warm, caring professionals who provide high-quality patient care in any setting. They are CPR certified and are prepared to handle rare outcomes from administering a flu shot (such as fainting or allergic reaction).
How It Works
At MedExpress, we make it easy for you to schedule and set up episodic on-site clinics.
- Contact us early to schedule a date and time that works for your company. We recommend that you begin planning your flu shot clinic in the summer, since time slots fill up fast.
- Someone from our Employer Health Services team will be in touch soon after you submit your information to help walk you through the process and pricing.
- Your Employer Health Services representative will schedule your flu shot clinic on a day and time that works for you.
- After your date is scheduled, we can help you promote your clinic to your employees with posters or flyers you can hang in break rooms or other high-traffic areas. We can also provide information you can share via company email or intranet.
- On the day(s) of your clinic, our flu shot clinical team will arrive to administer vaccinations during your scheduled times.
- Our team will manage the vaccination documentation (name, date, vaccine type, lot numbers, manufacturer, etc.) in keeping with standard vaccination protocol. All of our documentation processes are HIPAA-compliant.
- After the clinic is finished, our medical team will take all documentation, leftover supplies, and medical waste with them – essentially leaving the temporary “clinic” area as they found it.
It’s never too early to start planning for the flu and protecting your employees and business from the effects of an active flu season. Let MedExpress help you get your flu shot clinic on the books now. Contact us today.
are you an employer?
MedExpress offers a wide range of health and wellness services to keep employees health.
Originally published July 2019. Updated March 2024.
References:
1 The Society for Human Resources Management. The Economic Effect of Influenza on Businesses. Updated December 13, 2012. Accessed September 14, 2023.
2 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Flu Season. Updated July 18, 2018. Accessed August 10, 2023.
3 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report. Updated May 31, 2019. Accessed June 15, 2019.
4 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report. Updated May 31, 2019. Accessed June 15, 2019.
5 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Summary of the 2009-2010 Influenza Season. Updated September 8, 2010. Accessed March 19, 2024.