A total of 401 people received their flu vaccinations on Wednesday at the Flu Clinic held at the Lions Club Den in Rolla and sponsored by the Phelps/Maries County Health Department.
The Health Department sponsors Flu Clinics every year in Rolla and provides the vaccine to the populace at a reduced cost, $20 per vaccination, or the cost can be billed to Medicare Part B or Missouri Medicaid for adults.
“We had a really great corps of volunteers who were well-trained, and because of their service, patients got in quickly and were well cared for,” said Jodi Waltman, director of the Health Department.
Two volunteers were stationed outside the Lions Club Den to notify nurses who came out to vaccinate mobility-impaired patients in their cars, Waltman explained.
“That’s the advantage of the generosity of the Lions Club for letting us use their facility,” Waltman said.
The volunteers received a free breakfast and lunch, in addition to free flu shot.  All the Health Department employees and volunteers also received their vaccinations at the clinic, Waltman said.
The “flu shot” is an inactivated (killed) vaccine that is injected into the muscle.
Because influenza viruses are always changing, influenza vaccines are updated every year, and an annual vaccination is recommended.
Each year scientists try to match the viruses in the vaccine to those most likely to cause flu in the present year.  When there is a close match, the vaccine protects most people from serious influenza-related illness.  But even when there is not a close match, the vaccine provides some protection.
It takes up to two weeks for protection to develop after the shot, and the protection lasts up to a year.
The next Flu Clinic the Health Department has scheduled will be from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Oct. 8 in the multipurpose room of the Phelps County Courthouse.