Flu Vaccines available from October 13

Odessa Clinic has now received its private shipment flu vaccine and part of the State Supplied Vaccine for children. By the time, this article is read; we anticipate all flu vaccine should have arrived.

This seems to be a good time to discuss the importance of a yearly flu vaccine, even if you are a healthy person. While we have always encouraged people with health problems such as asthma, lung or heart disease and diabetics to get vaccinated; healthy people get sick with flu all the time as well. The flu virus does not discriminate. We saw this in the 2013-2014 flu season when many healthy younger adults became extremely sick. In most cases, these folks had not had a flu vaccine.

An even more important reason to get your vaccination is none of us live in a bubble. We live in a family and in a community. Whether it is the kids in school, adults at work, the grocery store, library, church or a friend's house, you might encounter someone who could get really sick from the flu - like a newborn or elderly person fighting cancer or even a toddler who can't be vaccinated because of an allergy. If you get sick, you could make them sick too - with possible deadly consequences. If people choose to just stay home when they are sick, one might think that is a reasonable choice; however, generally a person is contagious with the flu before they even know they have it and instead thought it was only allergies, a sniffle or a little ache. By the time the flu is apparent, you could infect a bunch of people. The statistics show that of the children/adults who died from influenza in 2013, approximately 90% had not been vaccinated.

The Odessa Clinic has several forms of the vaccine available for children and adults. We have the nasal for ages 2-49, Thimerosal-free for a select population, Flu Blok for those with known egg allergies, and vaccine for everyone over the age of 6 months. Most insurance companies, including Medicare, pay for flu and/or pneumococcal vaccine. Pneumococcal vaccine is recommended for everyone over age 65 once and for younger folks with specific indications).

For faster service, give the clinic a call at 509-982-2614 to let them know you will be in to get your vaccination.