Save the date—flu clinic is set for Oct.14

OPTUM HCC

COVID-19 booster shots will be coming to Leisure World, but the timing is unclear as protocols trickle down from national to state to the local health agencies that will be administering clinics.

Meanwhile, residents can protect themselves from another potentially deadly virus, the seasonal flu.

In recent years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)bestimates that between 70 percent and 85 percent of seasonal flurelated deaths have occurred in people 65 years and older, and between 50 percent and 70 percent of seasonal flu-related hospitalizations have occurred among people in this age group.

To help protect residents, Optum HCC will hold its annual flu shot clinic from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. on Oct. 14.

It will be free to any resident with any kind of health insurance and will be a drivethrough clinic by Clubhouse 4, similar to the one held last year.

Clinic protocols are now being finalized. Watch the LW Weekly for specific Mutual-by-Mutual schedules.

The CDC is urging everyone 65 years and older to get a flu shot. They are at higher risk of developing serious flu complications compared with younger, healthy adults. This increased risk is due in part to changes in immune defenses with increasing age.

A Flu Vaccine is the Best Protection Flu vaccination has many benefits. It has been shown to reduce flu illnesses and also to reduce the risk of more serious flu outcomes that can result in hospitalization or even death in older people.

CDC recommends that almost everyone 6 months and older get a seasonal flu vaccine ideally by the end of October.

Flu vaccines are updated each season to keep up with changing viruses. Also, immunity wanes over a year, so annual vaccination is needed to ensure the best possible protection against flu.

Because immunity may decrease more quickly in older people, it is especially important that this group is not vaccinated too early (in July or August).

September and October are generally the best times to be vaccinated for people 65 years and older.

A flu vaccine protects against the flu viruses that research indicates will be most common during the upcoming season.

Flu Vaccines are Updated Annually Accordingly, flu vaccines for 2021-2022 have been adjusted from last season’s vaccine to better match currently circulating viruses. Immunity from vaccination fully sets in after about two weeks.

Because of age-related changes in their immune systems, people 65 years and older may not respond as well to vaccination as younger people. Although immune responses may be lower in older people, studies have consistently found that flu vaccine is effective in reducing the risk of medical visits and hospitalizations commonly associated with flu.

People 65 years and older should get the flu shot, not a nasal spray vaccine. They can get any flu vaccine approved for use in their age group with no preference for any one vaccine over another.