County Residents Brave the Needle for Flu Vaccines

They are lining up in Thousand Oaks. Rolling up their sleeves in Camarillo. Wincing a little in Ventura as the needle approaches.

All in the hopes of passing a winter without that familiar achy feeling, the flush of fever, the drag of knowing the doom of flu is approaching.

“Once I see the needle, I tend to look the other way,� said Camarillo resident Walter Allen, who was getting in line at a clinic sponsored by the two St. John’s hospitals earlier this week. “But they work. Since I’ve been getting them I haven’t been sick.�

Flu shots are so popular this year that both county and state medical agencies have run out of the vaccine serum. Ventura County received 13,000 doses from the state, but that supply has already been doled out to the area’s hospitals for a series of flu shot clinics.

Lin Glusac, head of the county’s immunization program, said that in past years hospitals have returned unused serum after the clinics. But given the growing trend toward getting vaccinated, Glusac said she doesn’t expect any returns this year. More than 2,200 people have already signed up for a flu shot clinic at Simi Valley Hospital today. The response was so overwhelming that the hospital had to stop taking reservations.

“At this point, no one is going to let loose of their vaccine,� Glusac said.

She said the county asked the state for an extra allotment, but all the vaccine had already been parceled out. So to ensure sufficient supplies, the county ordered 800 additional doses from one of three national manufacturers, at a cost of about $7 a shot.

Working with the county’s hospitals and clinics, Ventura County is sponsoring nearly a dozen clinics this fall, with four planned for November. The clinics are run according to guidelines established by the federal and state governments.

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Typically, the shots are free to the elderly, health care workers and those with chronic medical problems. The vaccinations are funded through the California Health Services Immunization Unit. In addition, many of the county’s larger employers--including Thousand Oaks-based Amgen--have held or are planning private flu shot clinics for their employees.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta recommends flu shots for people over 60 or those suffering from chronic medical problems, such as asthma, diabetes or suppressed immune systems. The elderly are particularly vulnerable to contracting influenza. In an average flu season, 20,000 people die from the flu, and 90% of the victims are 65 or older, said CDC spokeswoman Barbara Reynolds.

The vaccine changes a little every year. Its components are juggled to accommodate whatever strain of flu is expected to be prevalent that season, Reynolds explained. This year, the vaccine contains strains of A/Texas, A/Wuhan and B/Bejing, all named for the places where they seem to have originated.

“It’s redesigned just like fashions every year,� Reynolds said.

The shots usually take effect after about 10 to 14 days, she said, and they offer protection for three to four months. Some doctors recommend getting the shots later in the season to prolong their effectiveness through the spring flu season. This year, local clinics began earlier--about mid-September--and will continue through November.

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In past years, some people have shied away from getting the shots because they believe that getting the vaccine will cause them to catch the flu within a few days. The CDC is eager to straighten out that misconception.

“That’s a myth we are really trying to correct,� Reynolds said. “The flu vaccine is made with a dead virus--a killed virus--so there is no way that people getting the vaccine could get flu from it.�

Since 1980, the number of Americans lining up for flu shots has quadrupled, with more than 40 million people getting vaccinated annually.

Reynolds said the federal agency does not make predictions about the severity of the upcoming flu season. And there is no 100% guarantee that any vaccine will stop all strains of the flu. But health officials recommend the shots as the best way to ward off the misery. And Ventura County residents seem to concur that the results from the shots are worth the brief sting.

“It didn’t hurt a bit,� said Mary Sumida of Newbury Park, pulling her sleeve back down after receiving a shot at a recent Columbia Los Robles Hospital clinic. She said she has been getting flu shots for several years. “I haven’t had the flu in years. It’s really worth it.�

At the clinic, held in a Westlake Village community center, nurses had gone through 430 doses of vaccine by 10:30 a.m. and were filling up needles with more serum. Like an assembly line, two groups of people waited their turn.

Los Robles spokeswoman Jane Misel said she has noticed an increase in the number of young people turning up for the hospital’s clinics.

“I think more people are concerned about staying healthy,� Misel said.

And nurse Catherine Sidransky, who already has volunteered at several clinics this season for St. John’s hospitals, said she vaccinated more first-timers than usual this year.

“There were quite a few who said they’d never had it before,� she said, popping out a fresh needle and preparing a shot at this week’s Camarillo clinic.

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Free Vaccinations

Several county-sponsored flu shot clinics are planned for November. Free vaccinations are available for those age 60 and older, health care workers, and adults and children with chronic medical problems. Others are encouraged to get a flu shot from their private physicians.

Nov. 1, 2: Santa Paula Memorial Hospital, 825 N. 10th St., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Nov. 9: Columbia Los Robles Hospital, 215 W. Janss Road, Thousand Oaks, 9 a.m. to noon.

Nov. 18: St. John’s Regional Medical Center, 1600 North Rose Ave., Oxnard, Conference Room 2, 4 to 7 p.m.