A shot in the arm

 If you haven’t gotten your flu shot, now’s the time to belly up. San Juan Basin Public Health is hosting upcoming walk-up flu clinics open to the general public:  

• Tues., Oct. 20, 9–11 a.m., Manna Soup Kitchen, 1100 Avenida Del Sol

• Wed., Oct. 21, 1-4 p.m., Durango Public Library overflow parking lot (corner of E. 3rd and 20th St.)

• Wed., Oct. 28, 1-4 p.m., Durango Public Library overflow parking lot (corner of E. 3rd and 20th St.)

In case you’re out of the loop, getting a flu shot this year is more important than ever. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the addition of another respiratory illness on top of COVID-19 could overburden the health-care system, strain testing capacity and increase the risk of a double whammy of catching both diseases at once.

According to SJBHD, flu cases start to ramp up in October and typically peak in late December or early January. Since it takes two weeks for the vaccine to take effect, October is the ideal time to get your flu shot. Each year, the vaccine is a combo of three to four different strains of the disease that officials expect to be the ones most in circulation. Even when a flu vaccine is not an exact match to the strain that winds up being most common, it still prompts an immune response that will limit the severity of sickness. 

The cost of a flu shot is covered by most insurance and shots will be free to those who are un- or under-insured. More clinics are planned for November, as well.