Health officials urge residents to seek flu vaccinations early

While the spotlight of the world has been firmly fixed upon the Ebola epidemic, here in Santa Cruz County, health officials are girding for the beginning of flu season.
“Flu is more of a threat to us than Ebola,” said Laurie Lang, senior health educator for the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency. “So far, it’s been quiet. But it’s pretty early in the season — flu usually peaks in January and February.”
In the wake of several flu scares in recent years — most recently the H1N1 swine flu earlier this year — Lang recommended that people get vaccinated now, in the earliest part of flu season.
“It takes about 2 weeks for a person to build up their immunity once they’ve gotten the shot,” she said. “You want to get it started now so you’ll be protected all through the flu season.”
To help prepare for the flu season, Lang said that the health services agency will be partnering with the volunteers of the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) to host a pair of free flu clinics in Santa Cruz County.
The clinics serve both as a means of getting people vaccinated as well as practice for the MRC volunteers who, in the event of a massive disease outbreak, are trained to set up emergency vaccination clinics — called Points of Dispensing (PODs).
“It’s really an exercise in setting up a clinic quickly,” Lang said.
This year, she said, the first POD will take place between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 11, at the Capitola Mall.
Flu vaccines will be offered, free of charge, to anyone over 18 as long as the supply of doses lasts. Another clinic is scheduled in Watsonville the following week.
Lang said that the goal was to get as many people vaccinated as possible.
“Last year, we gave out 400 shots,” she said, “this year we’ll give out 500.”
Ordinarily, Lang said, flu vaccines cost $30 at the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency.
Though costs may vary, she said, vaccines can also be obtained through many general practitioners, as well as the pharmacies at Costco, Walgreens, and Rite Aid throughout the county.
For more information about flu vaccines, as well as listings of where they can be obtained, visit http://santacruzhealth.org.