EVERETT – As many as 2,000 people can get their flu shots today at the Everett Events Center, an event sponsored by the nonprofit Visiting Nurse Services of the Northwest.
The shots will be offered from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The charge for the shot is $28.
Unlike previous years, no registration is needed. Anyone interested in getting the shot can come to the Everett Events Center at 2000 Hewitt Ave.
Organizers are targeting people ages 50 and older, even though anyone older than 6 can get a shot.
In recent years, problems in producing flu shots led health-care workers to ration the vaccine. The first people to get it were those most at risk of suffering serious complications from the flu, such as people 65 or older. Others had to wait.
However, there are no such restrictions this year, said Doris Visaya, director of clinic services for the visiting nurse organization.
“This year, we can give it to all those who are interested, even if they’re not in a high-risk category,” she said.
Today’s event is the largest one-day flu shot clinic sponsored by Visiting Nurse Services in Snohomish County this year, said Scott Whiteaker, a spokesman for the group.
People can pay for the shot by cash or check, he said. The organization also will bill Medicare or Secure Horizons, a Medicare health maintenance organization.
The vaccinations also are available from the Snohomish Health District and area medical clinics.
The Everett Clinic, for example, began offering flu shots earlier this month. So far, about 7,000 doses have arrived and more vaccine is expected next week, said Dr. Yuan-Po Tu, a physician who tracks influenza issues.
“We’ve seen a scattering of people with low-grade fevers, cough, runny nose and sore throat,” he said. Although the symptoms are similar to those of influenza, so far, no patient at the organization’s eight medical clinics has tested positive for the flu.
In the Puget Sound region, the peak flu season typically is in January and February.
“So the push is to get people vaccinated before the first of the year,” Tu said.
Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
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