Still plenty of time to get flu shot

    If you haven’t gotten your flu shot yet this year, you’re a bit late — but there’s still plenty of time.
    Chase County Clinic spokeswoman Linda Nelson said the facility began offering the shots last month, but they’ll continue to be available as long as they have doses in stock, meaning probably into January.
    “The best time to get the vaccination is prior to influenza hitting the community,” Nelson said. “It’s not here as hard and heavy like, say, COVID-19 has, but we’re starting that typical flu season,” which generally lasts from October to March.
    The vaccine is recommended annually for anyone six months and older.
    The clinic’s goal is to get 80% of the area’s population vaccinated for flu.
    “We have a good turnout for flu vaccinations and have once again this year,” Nelson said. “It’s something that the public is used to getting annually, so every year we have a good turnout.”
     It takes about two weeks after vaccination to develop enough antibodies, she said. The CDC recommends getting the shot by the end of October, but “just because they recommend that doesn’t mean we stop giving them the end of October. We still have flu vaccines available.”
    Patients can call the clinics in either Imperial or Wauneta to schedule a nurse visit for the vaccine, which does not require a doctor’s order. Both clinics also take walk-ins, but in that case the patient will have to answer a short questionnaire. The fee for the shot is then billed to the patient’s insurance company.
    Shots are available during regular clinic business hours and from 9 a.m. to 12 noon Saturdays in Imperial.
    Getting the shot doesn’t guarantee you won’t get the flu, “but it’s a good protection,” she said. A given year’s flu vaccine is designed to protect against the strains research suggests will be the most common that year.
    Health care providers sometimes have to fight myths about the shot, the most prevalent being that it will actually give the patient the flu.
    “The flu vaccine cannot give you the influenza illness,” Nelson said. “It’s made up of the inactivated virus, so it’s not infectious.”
    It may have some side effects, though, like soreness, redness or swelling  at the injection site, fever, muscle aches, nausea and/or fatigue.
    “They’re usually mild and short-lived,” Nelson said.
    The normal side-effects may be a bit scarier this year because they mimic some of those for COVID-19, she said. There are some differences, though.
    The flu sometimes comes with a runny or stuffy nose, while COVID rarely does; the coronavirus rarely causes diarrhea, while the flu sometimes does in children; and the shortness of breath that can be a sign of COVID doesn’t happen with flu. And, flu symptoms can come on suddenly, while COVID presents more gradually.