While the vaccines can cost about $40, the clinic is essentially free of charge. If you have insurance, the health department will take down your info and bill the insurance company to recoup some funds.
The vaccine is for individuals 6 months and older, and county health department nurses will be there to administer the vaccine.
Vanderburgh County Health Department Administrator Joe Gries said the vaccines reduce serious illness, take pressure off hospitals and can prevent fatal cases.
“We've gotten word from local hospitals, and doctors that the flu is out there right now,” he said. “And so the sooner you can get your immunizations and protect yourself, your family, the more people that do that, the less the spread.”
Kentucky's Green River District Health Department also has immunizations available — call your health department at (270) 686-7747 or go online to vaccines.gov.
According to the Vanderburg County Health Department, the vaccines can prevent serious illness, and with 60-percent efficacy, prevent transmission from a vaccinated person to another.
These vaccines change annually based on the flu variant coming from the southern hemisphere, said Gries.
“So when they develop these vaccinations, they already have that information,” he said. “So they're able to put those vaccines in there to protect against those most prevalent ones.”
The most common side effect is a sore arm, but he doesn’t recommend the vaccine that day if you’re not feeling well. Register online at the VCHD website.
Gries says in 2022 about 100 received vaccinations.
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