As of Oct. 24, anyone can get a flu shot at the Fayette County Health Department between 8:30 and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The shots are administered on a walk-in basis only until the department runs out of its shipment of 2,500 doses, said county nurse manager Carolyn Callison.

Callison urged anyone who wants a flu shot but isn’t in the high-risk category to come in as soon as possible for their vaccination, as there is no confirmed additional shipment of vaccine scheduled to be delivered.

“If people truly want to get the vaccine, they need to try and come in before we run out in November,” Callison said.

There are more vaccine manufacturers this year, and they are saying there is no shortage of vaccines, Callison said. At the same time, though, vaccines aren’t being delivered in a timely manner, she added.

Until they ran out of their first shipment of vaccine Monday morning, nurses had been inoculating only those considered at high risk from suffering severe complications from the flu. Those include anyone age 65 or older and;

• Anyone with a chronic health condition such as diabetes or heart disease.
• Anyone with a compromised immune system.
• Children ages 6-23 months old.
• Pregnant women (in any trimester).
• Healthcare personnel who provide direct patient care.
• Caregivers for children who are less than 6 months old.
• Anyone living in a long-term care facility.

Officials are worried about those in the high-risk category because they are more susceptible to develop serious complications from contracting the flu such as pneumonia, which could potentially be deadly.

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