(Radio Iowa) – More than 110 University of Iowa pharmacy students are taking shifts and volunteering to provide flu vaccinations at Iowa City-area drug stores and grocery stores over the next few months. Organizers of the effort say the students are helping immunize the community while easing the strain on our healthcare system by providing convenient and accessible options. Kelly Vu (VOO), a third-year U-I pharmacy student from Sioux City, says she looks forward to providing the service.

Vu learned how to give shots in her first year in the College of Pharmacy and heard stories of how decades ago, students practiced their syringe skills using a piece of fruit, like a peach.

Second-year pharmacy student Jacob Kooko-Ludemann (co-co LOOT-ah-mun), who grew up in northern Wisconsin, says he sees this program as providing an important community service.

This project is offering pharmacy students valuable lessons they can’t get in the classroom, like how to try and put someone at ease before sticking them in the arm.

This in-store training started at the U-I in 2004. The C-D-C recommends a yearly flu shot, as research shows it can reduce influenza illnesses by 40 to 60 percent, and if we get the vaccine sooner rather than later, we can avoid a strain on our healthcare system.