Hi Grandma, I'm here to celebrate the holidays with you and NO, I did not get the flu shot! Let me give you a big hug and a kiss on the cheek!
November 22, 2020
Dear Folks,
Uh, yeah. If only more people took the "Honesty Pill" and what came out of their mouths was the truth.
But failing widespread distribution of such a pill, we might want to keep an eye on folks, especially those who are members of our family.
The reality is, if you get the flu shot you will help protect not only yourself, but your family, your friends, your co-workers, people who work at the grocery story, people who work at your doctor's office, people at the Farmers Market, etc etc etc. (Is this list long enough for you?).
Supposedly there is at least some nominal belief in this country in "Love thy neighbor as thyself"..... and even if you don't love yourself enough to get the flu shot you should at least take care of the other members of your family and vastly reduce your odds of getting and spreading this potentially lethal respiratory illness to them.
So where do you find out information about the flu shot? How about the Yolo County Department of Public Health website? What? You have not gone to the website yet? You are not familiar with it? Would it help if I told you they were handing out free stuff there? Well, go look!
Here is the link for the Yolo County Immunization Program: https://www.yolocounty.org/health-human-services/children-youth/immunization-program.
It is chock full of useful information, including where to get the flu shot. Please note: Yolo County has been running FREE flu clinics and they were so popular that they are planning to schedule some more!! Here is a cut and paste from their webpage:
Flu Vaccine Clinics 2020
Yolo County's Immunization Program is offering FREE flu vaccine for Yolo County residents aged 6 months and up. See the schedule below for clinic dates and times:
Clinic dates coming soon!
They also provide you with a list of private providers like Sutter (a health system) and Elica (a Community Health Center) that offer immunizations (shots) and much, much more. Elica operates on a sliding fee scale which gives discounts to people depending on their documentable income and their family size. Here is that link:
Here is a list of Yolo County clinics offering routine immunizations:
Yolo County Provider Referral List 2020
There is also educational information on immunizations at this website so please take your time and check it out and go back there to see when the County is going to crank up its Flu Vaccine Clinics again.
Meanwhile, here is the posted phone number and hours of the Immunization Program:
Immunization Program
(530) 666-8552
M-F 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Remember, us taxpayers are funding the Yolo County Health Department (or rather I should say we are UNDER-funding the health department as it really does need more resources to fully do its job) so please avail yourself of their services.
If all else fails, contact your County Supervisors (there are five, each in a district where you reside) as we know "the buck stops there". Gary Sandy is the current Chair of the Board and my supervisor Jim Provenza becomes the Chair on January 2, 2020. These are both conscientious people and can direct you to people in public health who can help you.
But may I suggest you become familiar with the Yolo County Health Department website first? Maybe you and another family member or you and a friend can explore the Health Department website together. There is a lot of information there.... just waiting for you to use it!
Take care (and get the darn shot!),
John
PS Did you know that you can put "Immunity on the Calendar"? It takes 10 to 14 days for the flu shot to take effect. That means, if you want to be immune by Christmas (December 25) you should get your shot no later than December 11th. The earlier the better. But December 11th is a good cutoff day for assuring Grandma, "Yes, Grandma, I love you and I show it by letting you know I got my flu shot weeks ago!!".
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