The flu appears like clockwork every fall and winter across America. Every year, millions of Americans catch this respiratory virus. The health effects of the flu can be significant for individuals. In turn, this affects their workplaces, leading to missed work days, lost productivity, and direct health costs if the flu leads to hospitalization.
Flu-Related Work Absences
According to the CDC, on average, employees miss five days of work during a case of the flu. That can mean a cost of approximately $200 per day in lost productivity. A single employee with an uncomplicated case of the flu can mean a loss of $1,000 to an employer. If multiple employees get sick throughout the flu season, the productivity costs can quickly rise into the thousands of dollars.
The Flu Is Vaccine Preventable
Many flu cases can be prevented by getting an influenza vaccination before the start of flu season. The CDC recommends that everyone over the age of six months should have an annual flu shot. The vaccines are safe and effective at preventing the flu or reducing the severity of the disease.
Flu shots are both accessible and affordable, with many health plans covering the cost of the immunizations. Most people have no side effects from the flu vaccine, so there is no recovery time after receiving it. Within two weeks of receiving the vaccine, most recipients have a very low risk of contracting the flu, or experiencing serious illness if they do get a breakthrough infection.
Workplace Flu Shot Clinics Save Money
Employers can prevent productivity losses during flu season by making it easy for employees to get a flu shot. Workplace vaccine clinics and a simple and effective way to reduce the risk of flu outbreaks in the workplace and reduce the costs associated with flu-related absences.
The cost of offering a flu shot clinic can be far less than the cost of employees missing work due to illness. Many health plans will reimburse for the costs of the vaccines provided at the flu shot clinic as a covered preventative health service.
Ramp Health provides full-service flu shot clinics to workplaces of all sizes. We handle all the logistics of set-up, tear down, and administering vaccines. We have experience working with private companies as well as government agencies to offer turnkey flu shot clinics to protect the health of employees so business can go on as usual.
To learn more about Ramp Health flu shot clinic services, contact us using our simple web form.