Flu Shot
With the recent panic over the H1N1 virus, flu shot clinics have sprung up hither and thither to accommodate as much need as possible. Best of all, many of these are free clinics, specifically aimed at providing free flu vaccines to people who are at great risk. Some of these flu shot clinics are being targeted at specific high-risk groups, while others are for anyone who feels the need to get a flu shot. To find a free clinic giving out flu shots in your area, you might try the following avenues first, especially if you are a high risk patient.
1. Students
Many schools right now have opened up flu shot clinics for students to attend to receive the flu vaccine. Younger students, most especially children, are at a far higher risk for contracting the flu than other citizens. Consequently, these schools offer free clinics to try to prevent the spread of flu around the school. If you’re looking to get a flu shot for your child at a free clinic, first contact your child’s school or the local board of education to see if a flu shot clinic’s services are available in your area.
2. Expectant mothers
Some cities have also started providing flu shot clinics for expectant mothers. Pregnant women and their children are at particular risk for contracting the flu and suffering from it, and so it is especially important that these women receive treatment in a way that is safe for them. Many of these flu shot clinics have flu shots that have been tested to be safe for pregnant women and, because of their rarity, many of these are free clinics.
3. Emergency workers
A number of different local governments have also started to offer free clinics for emergency services workers. Health workers in particular often tend to be at a higher risk than the regular population, because of their constant contact with ill people, sometimes while at work in these free clinics. In addition, local government agencies are worried about losing a great portion of their emergency workers to sick days, thus crippling the area’s local emergency services. For that reason, free clinics are frequently set up for emergency workers, and, in this time of panic, free flu shot clinics have also been set up for the same reason.
4. Elderly
Older people are also at particularly high risks for getting the flu. Because of this, flu shot clinics have often been instructed to give preference to elderly citizens seeking flu shots. These are also often offered at free clinics since elderly people are frequently considered to have fewer funds available to them for flu shots. Flu shot clinics are particularly important to elderly who are also less likely to have job-sponsored health insurance any longer, and the importance of these being free clinics is also clear.
