Nearly 100 vaccines administered at Goochland Co. event
RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - With the President’s case of coronavirus topping headlines, local officials are urging flu vaccines ahead of the winter months.
Patient First said in September 2019, it was seeing nearly four times the number of requests that it saw last month. This weekend, there were several flu clinics across our area, one of them in Goochland County.
At Saturday’s clinic, the Chickahominy Health District says they gave out 97 vaccines, which for Goochland County, they say is a lot. Chickahominy Health Director Thomas Franck said President Donald Trump’s battle with COVID-19 could have contributed to the number.
“I think maybe it bumped the numbers up, I don’t think there’s any way to tell for sure if it bumped those numbers up,” Franck said, “obviously every year is important for flu vaccines, this year is especially important, given the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic is going on.”
The Chickahominy Health District covers Hanover, New Kent, Charles City and Goochland Counties.
Usually, Franck says they do a yearly flu clinic in one of the counties. This year, they’re doing a clinic in each one. The funding for the vaccine comes from federal grants through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“It’s going to really help us differentiate between COVID and influenza, we can keep those people out of doctors offices and we can keep them from being suspect COVID cases,” Franck said.
Flu and COVID-19 symptoms are very similar; both can cause fever, chills, fatigue, muscle aches and other symptoms.
Goochland County was the first of several clinics in the Chickahominy Health District.
A reminder, the CDC recommends everyone above the age of six months old gets their flu shot.
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