Vaccination Clinics Aim to Combat Flu

Seeking to blunt the impact of the annual onset of the flu season--especially to senior citizens--private and public health officials are offering free vaccination clinics across Ventura County.

Dr. Randy Feldman, the county’s health officer, said the annual shots are important for senior citizens who are more likely than other people to become seriously ill if they contract a flu virus.

“With aging, disease-fighting ability slows down and you don’t snap back after a couple days of flu like you did when you were younger,” Feldman said. “Without a flu shot, a serious case of flu can develop quickly and worsen rapidly.”

FHP Health Care and St. John’s Regional Medical Center will offer free flu vaccinations Thursday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 500 N. Juanita Ave., in Oxnard, according to FHP spokesman Bobby Pena.

Other dates and locations are Monday at the Wilson Senior Center, 350 N. C St., Oxnard; Tuesday at the offices of the Ventura County Council on Aging, 4917 S. Rose Ave., Oxnard; and Oct. 26 at the offices of the Camarillo Health Care District, 3639 E. Las Posas Road, Camarillo.

The clinics, open to all ages, will run from 9 a.m. to noon. For more information, call (818) 779-2199.

In addition, Feldman said, Ventura County public health officials will offer a series of free flu vaccination clinics for those over 60 and others who have chronic medical problems that would be complicated by the flu.

The clinics will be offered in Port Hueneme, Camarillo, Ventura, Santa Paula, Ojai, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Oxnard, Moorpark and Fillmore starting next month.

For times and locations of those clinics, call the county public health department at (805) 652-5918 or (805) 385-8652.