Flu vaccine clinic Friday in Pomona

COUNTY PRESS RELEASE

Rockland County Executive Ed Day and County Health Commissioner Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert announce that the first Health Department flu vaccine clinic of the season will be held on Friday, September 4, 2015, from 1 – 4 p.m. at the Rockland County Department of Health, Building D, 1st Floor, Nurses’ Conference Room, Room 130, located at 50 Sanatorium Road in Pomona. Additional flu vaccine clinics will be held on Friday, September 11, September 18, and September 25, same location and time.

The flu vaccine is free of charge to adults 65 years and older (please bring identification with proof of age). Patients with Medicare and Medicaid must bring their cards. There is a $30 fee for those 9 through 64 years old. Each patient must bring proof of Rockland County residency such as a driver’s license or utility bill. No appointments are needed, but it is recommended that you register online before the clinic by visiting https://www.health.ny.gov/go2clinic

The Health Department will be giving the quadrivalent flu vaccine which does not contain the preservative thimerosal. The vaccine is called quadrivalent because it offers protection against four different flu viruses that research shows will be most common during the flu season: two influenza (flu) A viruses and two influenza B viruses. The vaccine cannot cause flu illness, because the vaccine viruses used to make it are attenuated (killed).

Everyone 6 months of age and older should get the flu vaccine as soon as it becomes available each year. It takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body and provide protection against the flu virus. In the meantime, you are still at risk for getting the flu. That’s why it’s better to get vaccinated early in the fall, before the flu season really gets under way. The protection you get from the flu vaccine will last throughout the flu season.

The flu is a serious disease that can lead to hospitalization and sometimes even death. Even healthy people can get very sick from the flu and spread it to others. “Getting the flu vaccine is the main way to prevent the flu and its complications,” said Dr. Ruppert.

As the Health Department receives more shipments of the vaccine, additional flu vaccine clinics will be scheduled. For more information about the flu and the flu vaccine clinics visit https://rocklandgov.com/departments/health/programs-and-services/flu/ or call (845) 364 – 2520.