Caldwell Health Dept. Offers Flu Shots Wednesday

Have you gotten your flu shot yet? If not, you can get it this week from the Caldwell Health Department. 

The department's flu clinic will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 16, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Caldwell Community Center, 1 Provost Square, in the gym.  

The clinic is free to Medicare recipients who present their Medicare card. The shot is also available for $25 to everyone else. For more information, call the Caldwell Health Department at 973-403-3623.

Vaccination to prevent influenza is particularly important for people who are at increased risk for severe complications from the flu. People in the high-risk groups include:

• All children 6 months of age to 4 years old;
• People 50 years and older;
• Adults and children who have chronic pulmonary (including asthma), cardiovascular, kidney, liver,
• Neurological or metabolic disorders (including diabetes);
• People with compromised immune systems;
• Women who are or will be pregnant during the flu season;
• Children 6 months to 18 years of age who are receiving long-term aspirin therapy;
• Residents of long-term care facilities;
• People who are morbidly obese;
• Household contacts and caregivers of children less than 5, and
• Adults age 50 and above.

A yearly influenza vaccination should be considered for people who provide essential community services and people living in dormitories or under other crowded conditions.

Individuals who should not receive the influenza vaccine are: 

• Those with an allergy to eggs and egg proteins;
• Anyone with a previous life threatening reaction to a flu vaccine, or 
• Individuals with a history of Guillain-Barre syndrome.