SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. —
County health officials are encouraging San Diegans to get a flu shot and it seems many people are taking their advice. The county’s latest Flu Watch report says that vaccination rates are much higher than last year, and its efforts are paying off.
“To date, this flu season, which started July 1, we’ve only had 10 cases reported in San Diego County and that compares to 320 at this same point last year,” said Dr. Eric McDonald, M.D., M.P.H., who heads the Epidemiology and Immunization Services branch of the county’s Health and Human Services Agency.
The report says low flu rates may partially be due to people social distancing, wearing masks and washing their hands more often. It also found that so far, only 2% of all emergency room visits have been due to flu-like illnesses.
“Six-hundred-and thirty-seven-thousand San Diegans [have] had their vaccines so far, but we need to keep going,” McDonald said. “There were over 1.2 million San Diegans who had their shots last year and we would like to get as many of those people and more, as soon as possible this year to protect ourselves through the entire season.”
San Diego County says it doesn’t want to risk having both flu and coronavirus patients in the emergency rooms this fall and winter season. So, they’re ramping up their efforts to make the flu vaccine accessible to as many people as possible.
“We are disseminating the vaccines that we are getting from the state to our community partners with over 100 memorandum of agreements with various partners, so that they can administer the vaccines to their constituents or the populations that they deal with,” said McDonald.
San Diego County is sponsoring free flu vaccines at six clinics throughout the area until Nov. 3. The CDC recommends anyone over the age of six months old should get a flu shot.
County of San Diego Public Health Centers where immunizations are offered:
Eligibility for Immunizations at County Public Health Centers:
The following individuals are eligible to receive immunizations at County Public Health Centers:
- Children and adults who do not have health insurance.
- Children and adults whose health insurance does not include vaccines.
- Persons 0-18 years who are Alaskan Native or American Indian.
- Persons 0-18 years who have Medi-Cal or are Medi-Cal eligible.
- Persons 6 months and older in need of influenza (flu) vaccine regardless of health coverage.
Individuals are not eligible for vaccines at County Public Health Centers if their insurance includes vaccination coverage, even if there are co-pays or deductibles. If you have any questions about your eligibility for vaccines at County Public Health Centers, please call the Public Health Center near you.
The flu vaccine is also available at doctors’ offices and retail pharmacies.
For more information about influenza, click here or call 2-1-1 San Diego.