July 31, 2001

As the fall nears, local health services prepare for the flu shot season that will soon be present in Stanislaus County.

The flu shots offered in the Turlock area are expected to take place at the end of September at Emanuel Medical Center and at the end of October at different locations offered by the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency.

The Health Services Agency in Modesto offers flu shots to senior citizens and those with serious medical conditions at different locations in the county. There will be at least two locations in Turlock.

There will be flu shots given at several different locations tentatively beginning on Oct. 18. There will be clinics at the Senior Citizens Center, 1191 Cahill Ave., and at the Salvation Army, 893 Lander Avenue. There is also the possibility of having a third site this year.

On Oct. 18, the first clinic will be at the Senior Citizens Center on Bodem Avenue in Modesto. Senior Citizens and people with medical conditions are given shots for $10. Those who need the shots because they are at risk of having serious medical complications are given the shot even if they cannot afford it.

"Public Health's goal is to take care of all those at risk," said Nancy Bancroft, public health nurse and flu clinic coordinator for the agency. "We don't deny anybody based on inability to pay if they qualify. We are like a safety net. We want to be available to those that don't have a doctor."

Anybody with heart disease, sickle-call anemia, asthma, immune compromise disease, lung disease, kidney disease, or metabolic disease like diabetes is at greater risk of being affected by the flu, so they are vaccinated before the general public. The clinic is held at 23 different senior locations and also some nursing homes and residential areas. Last year the agency gave out 8,026 shots, which is the most given for the past six years.

"This is for the general public, so anyone can attend these clinics. The state has advised us, as well as the federal government, that we need to first immunize those at risk and with medical conditions. Then as the vaccine allows they can immunize the healthy population," Bancroft said.

The agency advertises through nutrition sites, which are locations where senior citizens get their meals. They send out flyers to all the nutrition sites where the clinics will be and let them advertise it. There are always good turnouts in Turlock at the locations. There were 296 people given the shot at the Senior Citizens Center. At the location on Lander there were 201 people vaccinated last year.

A tentative date for the clinic at the Senior Citizens Center in Turlock is Oct. 22 from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. The agency is considering coming to the Salvation Army on Friday, Nov. 2.

Reprinted by permission of the Turlock Journal.