Free seasonal flu shots will be available for university students at the Brown-Lupton Health Center because of a purchase from the Southern Methodist University Memorial Health Center, a university official said.

Stacey Simpson, administrative assistant at the Brown-Lupton Health Center, wrote in an e-mail that the university did not receive its small order of seasonal flu vaccines because suppliers focused more on manufacturing the H1N1 vaccine.

Simpson wrote that the co-medical director of SMU Memorial Health Center, Nancy Merrill, asked the TCU health center if the university would like to purchase SMU’s excess supplies of the seasonal vaccine, and TCU accepted the offer.

The university received 1,200 seasonal flu vaccines from SMU, she wrote.

“Because of the surplus, TCU has been able to offer more than one free flu clinic,” Simpson wrote.

Today will be the last free flu clinic of the year. The health center will be open during office hours as well as after office hours for the clinic, she said.

Cheryl Strange, a registered nurse at the health center, will be administering the flu shot to students today.

Strange said she hoped all the vaccines will be used.

If students haven’t already received the seasonal flu shot, now would be a good time to get one, she said.

“Hopefully they will be coming,” Strange said.

The flu season is just starting, which statistically begins at the end of November to the beginning of December and does not end until the beginning of April, Strange said.

Students receiving the seasonal flu shot will be asked a multitude of questions, Strange said. The first question to ask a person is if he or she has an egg allergy, which can counteract with the medicine in the seasonal flu shot.

“We have a questionnaire that we want (students) to read over and let us know if any of the questions pertain to them…especially the allergy to eggs,” Strange said.

Students receiving the shot most likely will not feel any pain at the injection site, Strange said. Students who experience soreness the next day should take two anti-inflammatory pills, such as Tylenol, and they’ll be fine, Strange said.

Students generally tell the nurse which arm they prefer the injection in, but that the dominant arm is the best place for the shot, Strange said.

“The soreness will work its way out quicker,” she said.

Free Flu Shots

When: Thursday, Dec. 3

Where: Brown-Lupton Health Center

Who: All students with I.D.

When: 5 to 7 p.m.