Takeaways

• As we approach cold and flu season, strengthen campus prevention strategies and reduce transmission by offering affordable and accessible COVID and flu vaccinations on campus.
• Combat vaccine misinformation through transparent and educational messaging, campaigns, and programs that reinforce the safety and importance of vaccinations.

Promote low-risk behaviors like staying home when sick masking, and good hygiene to maintain a healthy campus environment.

With the peak of respiratory illness season around the corner, it’s critical to review your school’s respiratory virus response preparations. Maintaining a thriving campus community will involve encouraging vaccination and boosters, promoting good hygiene, and addressing the ongoing spread of vaccination misinformation.

Why are college campuses vulnerable?

Outbreaks of the cold, flu, and COVID are common on college campuses given the high-density living conditions and frequent, large social gatherings. College-aged adults are more likely to partake in high-risk behavior, like failing to socially distance themselves from their community when sick. While the influenza-attributable hospitalization rate for college students is low, the viruses spread easily throughout the student population.¹

Despite not often resulting in serious illness, contracting a virus can have serious consequences for college students, leading to declining academic performance, disruptions to social life, and impacts on mental health. Outbreaks can even have financial costs for students, as they may miss work or face increased healthcare costs.²

Offer affordable and accessible vaccinations

Offering affordable and accessible vaccinations on campus is one of the most effective ways to ensure that the incidence rate stays low. ³ Making sure both COVID boosters and the flu vaccine are quick, convenient, and cost-effective is key, popularly done by hosting on-campus vaccine clinics in central, accessible locations.

This also eliminates any financial barriers that may prevent students and staff from getting boosted and vaccinated. Free or low-cost shots, or even offering an incentive, helps encourage people to get vaccinated. ³

Promoting good hygiene

Beyond vaccination efforts, encouraging the campus community to maintain good hygiene is important to keep themselves and their peers safe. Here are some key practices, recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

• When exhibiting flu-like symptoms, stay home, get tested, and notify anyone who may have been exposed.
• If staying home isn’t possible, be sure to wear a mask, and cover your coughs and sneezes to limit the spread of germs to others.
• Wash your hands, clean high-traffic areas, and disinfect frequently touched surfaces regularly, such as countertops, handrails, and doorknobs.⁴

Combatting misinformation

Finally, it is paramount to acknowledge the state of the nation regarding the safety of vaccinations and immunization policies.⁵ Campus Health 360 is encouraging our members to maintain the scientific consensus that vaccinations are safe, effective, and save lives.

As political leaders become principal in the anti-vaccination movement, it’s more important than ever to provide students the ability to learn about the essential role vaccines play in public health. From educational workshops on the science behind vaccinations, seminars led by health promotion specialists, to campus-wide awareness campaigns, providing an array of opportunities for students to learn about vaccines will be useful in dispelling any myths and misconceptions.

Takeaway

Tip: Take action to protect your campus from peak respiratory virus rates by launching awareness campaigns, hosting educational events, setting up on-site vaccination clinics, and providing free or low-cost cleaning supplies.

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References

1. Benjamin, S. M., & Bahr, K. O. (2016, March 24). Barriers Associated with Seasonal Influenza Vaccination among College Students. Influenza research and treatment, 2016, 4248071. Accessed on October 8, 2025. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1155/2016/4248071
2. CDC Foundation. (2024, August 28). Contagious Conversations / Episode 48. The Costs of Getting Sick. Accessed on October 8, 2025. https://www.cdcfoundation.org/conversations/cost-of-getting-sick
3. CDC, Vaccines & Immunizations. (2024, October 11). Ensuring Vaccine Access for All People. Accessed on October 8, 2025.  https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/basics/vaccine-equity.html
4. SC Johnson Professional. (2024, November 13). Maintain a Healthy University Campus During Cold and Flu Season. Accessed on October 8, 2025. https://cmmonline.com/articles/maintain-a-healthy-university-campus-during-cold-and-flu-season
5. Hodge J. G., Jr (2025, Marcy 27). Legal Underpinnings of the Great Vaccine Debate of 2025. The Journal of law, medicine & ethics: a journal of the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 53(1), 1–5. Accessed on October 8, 2025. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-law-medicine-and-ethics/article/legal-underpinnings-of-the-great-vaccine-debate-of-2025/2B981EE7C292032F53F65A0EFF0547DB

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