A flu clinic for H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines will be at the Schoharie County office building next Wednesday, December 30, from 2pm to 6pm.
Unlike earlier clinics that targeted priority groups for H1N1, the clinic, in the office building basement, is open to everyone.
The clinic is free, and no appointments or reservations are necessary.
“If you put it off before, now is a good time,” said Katie Strack, director of the county Health Department, which is hosting the clinic.
“It’s over the school break, so we’ll be available for everyone––kids, adults, anyone.”
After a flurry of H1N1 cases in October and November, the illness lessened in December. The prime flu season, however, is January and February, Ms. Strack said.
“It slowed in December, and the pattern here fit what happened in other counties,” she said.
“We’re on a wave. We’re prepared for a decline. We’re prepared if January and February are not as good as December.”
The clinic’s timing is good for the prime flu season, she said, because it takes two weeks for the vaccine to take hold.
Even while distributing vaccines to doctors’ offices and Cobleskill Regional Hospital, the Health Department is well-supplied with both H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines, she said.
There should be plenty of both at the December 30 clinic, Ms. Strack added.
“We have a lot,” she said. “If 5,000 or 10,000 people show up, we may have a bit of a hiccup, but we have a lot.”
The nasal and injected H1N1 vaccines and the standard seasonal flu vaccines will be available at the clinic.
Anyone coming to the clinic can get either or both vaccines.
“You can choose,” Ms. Strack said. “We won’t tell you to do anything you don’t want to do.”
Residents don’t need to bring any paperwork or documents with them.