Flu shots available Monday in Poway

Flu shots, which have been scarce in the Inland Corridor this fall, will be offered from 1 to 4 p.m. next Monday at Poway Senior Center — located at 13094 Civic Center Drive.

That senior facility is expected to have upwards of 1,000 available shots — just for adults 65 and older. Also eligible are those in high-risk categories, such as the pregnant, or adults with serious health issues, such as diabetes, asthma and other ailments.

A mobile health team from Mission Valley Medical Clinic will administer the shots, at $20 a pop. They will adhere to strict Centers for Disease Control guidelines, which limit who can get the shot, said clinic spokesman Michael Petruccelli.

Due to tainted serum from California-based Chiron Corp, which manufactures its product in England, half the American supply of vaccine will never arrive this flu season.

“We’re taking the guidelines of who can get the shot very seriously,” said Poway Senior Center Director Sherrie Anne Goldby. “We’re also reminding seniors to keep receipts so they can get reimbursed for the shot by Medicare.”

Anyone who falls into the high-risk category based on asthma, diabetes or other illness, but is not 65, will be asked to present a signed doctor’s note that they need the shot, or they can show a prescription bottle.

At least two local senior facilities — the Poway Senior Center and Rancho Bernardo Senior Services — have been on a roller coaster ride waiting for flu vaccine, after their scheduled clinics were canceled last month.

Those same facilities got surprise calls this past week from health officials ready to deliver shipments of about 800 shots to each location.

More than 410 people showed up Monday at the Poway center before 9 a.m., where a Mission Valley team spent most of the morning inoculating seniors.

At $20 a shot, those who waited in line said it was well worth their time.

While there was a long wait from about 9 to 10 a.m., the line moved faster around 11 and down to a trickle before noon.

Some grimaced, several looked the other way, but most took their medicine, considering it an “ounce of prevention,” said Margaret Wilson, 82, of Poway.

“I can’t remember a year that I didn’t get a flu shot,” Wilson said. “It’s a good idea to get one.”

Couples like Carlo and Darlene D’Albero, longtime Poway residents, arrived in the late morning and were in and out in five minutes, they said. They heard about the clinic, because they volunteer at the center.

During Monday’s immunization clinic, the Mission Valley workers didn’t have time for lunch or a break because they had to be at a San Marcos location by 1 p.m., Petruccelli.

“You can tell that the demand is also taking its toll on them (nurses and staff),” Petruccelli said. “They’re just plain worn out.”

Meanwhile, RB Senior Services Director Barbara Crouch said her phone has been ringing off the hook every day since word came that vaccine would be coming.