It’s Time for an Autumn Shot in the Arm: FLU VACCINES AVAILABLE ACROSS REGION
By Beverly Fortune, The Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.
Oct. 15–Before the 11 o’clock service at Southern Hills United Method Church, Wiley Finney rolled up his sleeve to get his annual flu shot.
Finney gets a shot every year, and has for many years. “Well, I’m 96, I’ve got to do a lot to stay alive,” he said.
Lexington-Fayette County Health Department workers were set up in the gymnasium at Southern Hills, armed with enough flu shots for 150 people.
People probably won’t start complaining about fever and aches for another month, but Central Kentucky health departments are gearing up to inoculate people against the flu now.
Flu season officially started Friday. That’s when the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta began recording cases reported throughout the United States.
Flu season runs through March, but people can contract flu before and after that period, said Kevin Hall, spokesman for the Fayette health department.
“We don’t have any idea how bad the flu season will be, but we always encourage prevention, particularly in the form of a flu shot,” he said.
Unlike in recent years, when shipping delays and manufacturing problems resulted in some people not getting flu shots, this year there is plenty of vaccine on hand, Hall said. Shots, which cost $20, are given weekdays at the health department’s public health clinic at 805 Newtown Circle. Medicaid and Medicare B cards are accepted.
Many churches, businesses, doctor’s offices, pharmacies and agencies are offering clinics to blunt the flu’s annual attack. County health departments also give shots.
This year, national guidelines for who can use the nasal vaccine FluMist have been broadened. Healthy children as young as 2 may now receive the nasal spray vaccine. Previously, the minimum age was 5.
Nationally, vaccine manufacturers are expected to produce a record 132 million doses, according to the CDC.
Yet despite vaccinations and a widespread campaign educating people about the benefits of getting the shot, about 200,000 people are hospitalized every year with flu symptoms, and thousands die from flu or its complications.
National guidelines for who is considered high risk have been extended and now include children 6 months old to 5 years, pregnant women and individuals 50 or older.
Jay Ingle and his wife, Ann-Phillips Mayfield, have a newborn at home. Their pediatrician recommended shots for both. So Ingle got his flu shot at Southern Hills before church yesterday.
“We don’t want to get sick and get the baby sick,” he said.
Reach Beverly Fortune at (859) 231-3251 or 1-800 950-6397 Ext. 3251.
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