Don’t forget your annual flu vaccine! The Onondaga County Health Department will be holding a public flu vaccine clinic on Wednesday, November 19th from 10:00AM – 12:00PM, and again from 2:00PM-4:00PM, with special emphasis on reaching uninsured individuals. The clinic will be held at the John H. Mulroy Civic Center, located at 421 Montgomery Street, Syracuse, NY 13202. The clinic will be held in Room 30 in the basement. Residents who would like more information on this flu vaccine clinic are encouraged to call 435-2000.
This clinic is a walk-in clinic and no appointment is necessary. Vaccines will be free for Onondaga County residents, while supplies last. The Onondaga County Health Department flu clinic will provide flu vaccines for anyone six (6) months of age and older.
Quoc Nguyen, MD, Onondaga County Health Department Medical Director, explained, “Getting your flu vaccine is the single best way to prevent getting the flu. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone over six (6) months old get an annual flu vaccine.” Nguyen further emphasized that the flu vaccine is especially important for children and adults with high risk conditions such as asthma.
New this year, the CDC has recommended that FluMist® (a vaccine that is sprayed inside the nose) is preferred over the traditional flu shot for children 2 through 8 years of age because it offers better protection in that age group. At this flu vaccine clinic, FluMist„µ will be available for any children and adults who prefer an alternative to the traditional flu shot. FluMist„µ is only recommended and offered to healthy children and adults age 2-49 years old.
The CDC continues to reinforce that an annual flu vaccine is particularly important for persons at high risk for complications from the flu, or for those who have contact with people at high risk. Those include the following:
- Pregnant women
- Children younger than five, but especially children younger than two years old
- People 50 years of age and older
- People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions
- People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities
- People who live with or care for those at high risk for complications from flu, including:
Health care workers
Household contacts of persons at high risk for complications from the flu
Household contacts and out of home caregivers of children less than six months of age (these children are too young to be vaccinated)
Children under the age of nine who have never had a flu vaccine series before will need two doses of vaccine. The second vaccine should be given 4 weeks after the first shot or FluMist®. If your child is under age nine (9) and only received one dose of vaccine last year, they should receive one dose this year.
Getting a flu vaccine is the best way to protect your health as well as your family, friends, and others. Get your flu vaccine to protect yourself and others! For more information, call 435-2000.