OISS Assistant Director Brooke Stokdyk, the event’s organizer, said research  shows that vaccination rates are lower among the international  community than the domestic community.

“We just have an opportunity to make it easy to get the vaccines that people need to help keep our community healthy,” Stokdyk said. “I work  with international students and scholars and that’s who I can help. It  helps the community as a whole stay healthier.”

The vaccines offered covered hepatitis A, hepatitis B, HPV and measles,  mumps and rubella for adults. Children can be vaccinated for flu, varicella and rotavirus.

“Vaccination rates in the U.S. have actually been falling and as a result, some  diseases like measles and whooping cough are making a comeback,” Stokdyk  said.

Information and media doctoral student Qucheng Zhang, who is from China,  received three vaccines at the event. Zhang said the vaccinations help  to improve the welfare of students on campus. 

“International students, they are born and raised in many different cultures, many  different environments. ... They may be vulnerable to some diseases,  like flu or swine flu or something,” Zhang said. “They never met these  kinds of diseases in their countries. So maybe taking these shots is a  good idea.”

Individuals interested in being vaccinated this fall can also receive free personal consultations from the Ingham County Health Department. 

“People could bring in vaccine records in any language and the health department would take them back and have them translated so that they  could better identify which vaccines were needed for each person,”  Stokdyk said. 

Monica Romadhona, an Indonesian immigrant who’s only been in East Lansing for a  month, took her five-year-old son to the event. Both received  vaccinations. 

“It helps me as a immigrant and I’m so happy to have my family here and  (receiving shots) and we hope that this event will continue in the next  year,” she said. 

Romadhona said vaccination clinics keep the East Lansing community safe and healthy.

“As I am an immigrant, I don’t know what vaccines (are) needed, my family  needed, to keep my body healthy and this is good support for all the  community and East Lansing,” Romadhona said. “Especially the  international ones because they do not know what they need to improve  their health in a foreign area.”

Romadhona found out about the opportunity from her neighbor. She said similar  events could be advertised more broadly so people new to the community  can find them more easily.

Nurses from Olin Health Center, the MSU nursing staff and the Ingham County  Health Department administer the vaccinations. A staff member from the  MSU nursing faculty who speaks Mandarin was also on hand to act as a  translator for individuals.

“We had three members of the MSU nursing faculty, so they are nurses  themselves and they teach nursing at MSU and they’re here volunteering  their time to give the vaccines,” Stokdyk said.

OISS’s fall vaccination service has been successful for the past five years  due in part to the time of season for which it’s scheduled, according to Stokdyk. 

“It’s been successful as a holiday event because it also rhymes: vaccine, Halloween,” Stokdyk said. “It’s a good  opportunity to show the international community what Halloween is all about because it’s kind of a weird American holiday, isn’t it?” 

Editor's note: This article previously identified Qucheng Zhang as a media and information major. He is actually an information and media doctoral student. This information has been corrected.