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Aaron Bonertz gets his four-year-old son Logan to hold his hand for comfort as he feigns the pain of the needle during an influenza clinic Tuesday afternoon at Exhibition Park. @IMartensHerald
With free vaccinations now available, nearly 80 per cent of Albertans surveyed believe it’s important to protect themselves against “the flu” every year.
But only 61 per cent plan to get their shot this year. That’s what a recent Insights West study found at flu clinics across Alberta.
When asked, the study found more than one-third of those who said they’d give it a miss believed the vaccine was not effective — or that it only works with previous flu strains.
But fully 98 per cent of Albertans who said they were vaccinated last year plan to return this fall.
The study was released by the London Drugs group, as pharmacists and family medical clinics prepared to offer the nocharge service. Locally, Alberta Health Services opened its first Lethbridge clinic on Tuesday at Exhibition Park.
But skepticism about the vaccine’s effectiveness could prove fatal, a London Drugs pharmacist warns. Every year, dozens of Albertans die of complications after coming down with the flu.
“This is an unfortunate and deadly belief,” says staff pharmacist Agusia McGrath.
“The vaccine is always updated to protect against the viruses that health experts believe will be circulating during the coming season, and protects against multiple strains.”
Each year’s vaccine is based on this year’s “flu season” in the Southern Hemisphere, explains Lizette Elumir, a medical officer of health for Alberta Health Services in its south zone.
“The efficacy is very good,” she says — and the flu season in Australia and New Zealand was relatively mild.
While the first-day Lethbridge clinic was busy, she reports patients were registered and served in good time. But in recent years, she notes, a growing number of Albertans are making use of daily clinic sessions at their local pharmacy or doctor’s office.
This year, Elumir points out, pharmacists may provide flu shots to everyone aged five and up. At AHS clinics, parents can book a time to bring children who are younger — or just drop in.
Those clinics will be held from now until mid-December in Lethbridge and a dozen more communities across southwestern Alberta. This month’s schedule includes another session next Tuesday at Exhibition Park, followed by more opportunities on Nov. 1, 3 and 5.
The first clinics will open today, 1 to 6 p.m. in Taber and Pincher Creek, followed by sessions Thursday — same hours — in Blairmore and Foremost.
Locations and future dates are posted online at www.albertahealthservices.ca/influenza.