It’s time to take advantage of getting a free flu shot at one of the community vaccination clinics operated by the Louisiana Office of Public Health. These will be taking place over the coming weeks, one of them today at the OPH unit in Rapides Parish.
“All of our vaccine activities will really be directed toward giving free flu shots to whoever drives in and wants them,” said Dr. David Holcombe is the OPH medical director for central Louisiana.
He says when a clinic is offered in your area, bring an ID, your insurance card if you have one, but the shots are free of charge to the patient regardless.
“We’ve given up to 700 shots in our region in these one-day events cumulatively which is pretty astonishing,” said Dr. Holcombe.
While Covid-19 shots will also be offered during the clinic, Holcombe encourages you to get a flu shot given the death toll that the virus racks up annually, 16-hundred in Louisiana last year alone, with the national figure possibly rising to the tens of thousands.
“We’re really encouraging people to get a flu shot because 35,000 people a year can die of the flu,” said Holcombe
The flu shot is recommended for everyone over six years of age who doesn’t have a complicating condition.
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