With summer now officially waned into fall, flu season is coming around again.
The Tooele County Health Department will begin visiting local schools Oct. 1 to give flu shots to students in kindergarten through 12th grade, said Wayne Lyman, department nursing director.
Amy Bate, health department public information officer, said, “We urge them [people] to get their flu shot, and to get it sooner rather than later. We go into schools to try to get more people immunized at their convenience.”
Meanwhile, flu shots are also available to the public in the county health department building, located at 151 N. Main Street in Tooele City, Lyman said. No appointment is necessary.
He encouraged people to get flu shots to protect themselves.
“Days away from work makes it hard for everybody,” Lyman said. “It makes it hard for businesses, schoolteachers and kids trying to learn. They [people] can avoid those sick days. … It’s interesting when you look at the statistics: more people die from flu every year than they do from big scary diseases that we get nervous about, like West Nile Virus and Ebola. A lot of times what happens is the flu develops into pneumonia or something else.”
For the majority of the public, flu shots can be paid for at a cash price of $30 or billed to insurance. The health department is willing to negotiate a payment plan with persons of low income or no income, Lyman said.
“There was some concern last year about the flu shots not being as effective,” he added, “but this year, they got it right — it’s very effective.”
Flu shots are also available at some non-governmental locations, such as Birch Family Pharmacy, Walmart Supercenter and Walgreens Pharmacy in Tooele. Sometimes cheaper shots are available, but they typically only protect against three strains of flu.
The shot offered by the health department protects against four strains of flu, Lyman said.
For more information about flu clinics in schools, visit tooelehealth.org/school-flu-clinics.