Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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September 1, 2009

Hundreds take measures to fend off flu bug

By GREG JORDAN

GREEN VALLEY — Hundreds of people rolled up their sleeves Tuesday to fortify themselves against an annual scourge — flu season.

By 12:30 p.m., approximately 400 residents had been inoculated at the Mercer County Health Department to protect themselves from seasonal influenza, said Administrator Melody Rickman. More people were expected to line up that day.

“I think we did around 700 this time last year,” she said as a woman prepared to get her flu shot.

The inoculations being offered now are against regular flu, not swine flu also known as H1N1, Rickman said. Many of the people coming to the health center were not in the risk category for swine flu vaccine.

“People 65 and over at this first round will not get the swine flu (vaccination),” Rickman said. “They’re not in the high risk group; however, they are in the high risk group for the regular or seasonal flu, which we are giving today.”

Swine flu vaccine could arrive in Mercer County by mid-October.

Season vaccinations against influenza will be available Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. They will also be offered on Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Medicare, Medicaid, PEIA, UMWA and Blue Cross/Blue Shield will be accepted. The cost is $25 for people with no insurance. Vaccine will be offered until it is gone.

Visitors who sought vaccinations Tuesday said they prepare themselves for flu season every year.

“I sat here on the first day last year to get it, and they’ve worked,” said Rebecca Gillian, 50, of Athens. “I’ve had double pneumonia, so I get this as a precaution. I do get the pneumonia shot, but I do back it up.”

Her mother, Patti Gillian, 76, said she gets her flu shot “every year, first thing.”

“I was a school teacher, so I got one every year. We just automatically did it while I was teaching, and, so far, it’s worked. I haven’t had the flu.”

Princeton resident Willie Constantino, 80, when asked how long he’s been getting flu shots, replied: “How long have they been doing it?”

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