By Jamie Shuster

A few weeks ago, DHEC launched our annual employee flu vaccination drive. This year, we decided to try something new to make it as easy as possible for our busy staff to get their vaccine. Instead of holding traditional clinic dates, our nursing team went door-to-door, offering each one of our nearly 3,500 employees a vaccine in the comfort of their office. We also gave employees the option of receiving a nasal mist vaccine as an alternative to the shot for the first time.

As a result, we’ve achieved a new record participation rate, with 85% of DHEC employees now vaccinated against the flu only 8 weeks into the campaign.

I would like to take a moment to recognize a few of our areas who have gone a step beyond and have already earned a 100% participation rate in the employee flu vaccine campaign. In our regions, the Midlands has become the first regional team to achieve a 100% vaccination status. Thank you to the entire Midlands team for helping to protect our clients and your fellow colleagues from the flu this year.

Here in Central Office, I’m pleased to announce that the following areas have also achieved a perfect participation rate:

• Client Services
• Community Engagement
• Chronic Disease Epidemiology and Evaluation
• Oral Health
• Immunizations
• Legislative and Constituent Services
• Media Relations
• Tuberculosis Prevention and Control

We’ve begun taking photos of our each of our areas as they achieve 100% vaccination rates. You can check out these photos on our Facebook page. We’ll add more photos as new areas earn 100%, so check back often.

Thank you to our dedicated Employee Health and Nursing teams — especially Jessica Bryan, Cindy Robertson, Karen Warren, Susan Watts and Jane Yates — for helping make our flu vaccine drive a big success.

If you haven’t gotten your flu vaccine yet, I encourage you to contact your employee health nurse to take advantage of the free vaccine and help us achieve our goal of exceeding a 90% vaccination rate for the agency this flu season.