Free flu shots for San Bernardino County residents

While getting a regular flu shot is a good option for everyone, it’s recommended that seniors, those 65 and older, get a high dose flu shot instead. If they receive their prescriptions under the Newfoundland and Labrador Prescription Drug Program (NLPDP), they can get their flu shot for free at participating pharmacies.

Strains of the flu change and resurface each year so that is why health professionals believe important to be proactive.

For healthy children aged two to eight the flu vaccine is given in the form of a nasal spray, rather than an injection.

It is also expanding the national flu vaccination programme to key groups and aims to reach 21 million people.

Colby said he hopes the community takes advantage of getting the flu shot since Ontario is one of the only jurisdictions in the world which administers it for free.

Predictions are always hard, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends everyone 6 months and older get their appropriate flu vaccine. Each year, we see both types of flu throughout North Idaho.

The goal of the exercise is to test the Department’s mass distribution of medication and vaccinations to county residents as a response to an outbreak or public health threat.

“Influenza is an unpredictable infectious disease”, said Dr. William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Vaccination is the best protection against catching or spreading influenza, which is a debilitating and potentially deadly illness. Flu vaccination helps reduce hospitalizations among almost 80 percent of diabetes patients and 52 percent of those who suffer from chronic lung disease. Almost 47 percent of Americans received a flu vaccine in 2016, and almost all of those vaccinations occurred early in the season.

October marks the beginning of flu season in the United States, and doctors are calling for people to act as early as possible to get vaccinated. Protecting yourself before the peak of the season will ensure better protection from sickness.

Colby also said a lot of people seem to misunderstand exactly what the flu is.