Vaccinations also being sought earlier than usual at local pharmacy
A larger number of residents in six north Georgia counties decided to act early and get their flu shots at recent drive-thru clinics presented by health departments in the North Georgia Health District.
A combined total of 1,705 regular quadrivalent and high-dose influenza vaccinations were dispensed at the clinics held in Gilmer, Pickens, Cherokee, Fannin, Whitfield and Murray counties, according to information provided by the public health district.
The North Georgia Health District has held the drive-thru clinics in fall since 2007 and, this year, all six clinics took place during the last two weeks of September. Last year, a total of 1,325 drive-thru flu shots were given at clinics in the six counties.
“At this time of year through spring, influenza viruses circulate at higher levels in the U.S., (so) a well-timed flu shot reduces the chances of getting seasonal flu and spreading it to others. When more people are vaccinated, less flu spreads through communities,” noted Jennifer King, the health district’s public information officer.
The individual 2020 drive-thru clinic numbers per county are: Gilmer: 140, Pickens: 136, Cherokee: 290, Fannin: 125, Whitfield: 816 and Murray: 198.
In Murray County, health department staff managed to dispense almost 200 shots even after the clinic was moved indoors due to rain, King noted.
“Pickens County also gave a great number of shots at their drive-thru. They normally give less than 100,” she added.
Gilmer’s total was also up with 60 more shots given this year than at the 2019 drive-thru clinic.
“(This year was) a definite increase from previous years, when the numbers were usually less than 100,” confirmed King.
The number for this year’s drive-thru clinic in Cherokee County was far more than any other year, except for when H1N1 vaccines were given via drive-thru, King noted. However, there was a flu pandemic that year and those vaccinations were free, she added.
The early response points to more people taking extra precaution against the flu as the COVID-19 pandemic continues into fall and winter.
“We’ve had a great response this year. Many people have received the flu shot who have never obtained one in the past,” noted Gilmer Health Department Nurse Manager Krystal Sumner.
‘Everybody’s concerned’
Huff’s Drug Store owner Steve Purvis said the number of flu shots given at his Ellijay pharmacy has also been up since the vaccine was first available in August.
“We’ve had a tremendous amount of response and it’s been a little earlier than normal,” he added.
The ongoing pandemic has been a contributing factor to more customers getting a flu shot, as well as other vaccinations, Purvis noted.
“They’re also getting things like Pneumovax 23, which is the pneumonia shot, and Shingrix, the shingles shot. They want to come on in and get it done. I think it’s a smart thing,” he said. “The mentality has changed, too, I think. People are not wanting to risk getting sick. In the past, they may have thought if I get sick, I get sick and it is what it is. Now, though, (it’s more) if I get sick and I also get COVID, now I’m scared. A needle hurts for only a couple of seconds, but the flu or COVID will hurt for a while longer.”
Purvis said his pharmacy uses GRITS (Georgia Registry of Immunization Transactions and Services), a state immunization database, to keep track of when customers are due for certain shots.
“We do vaccine screenings on people, which is the difference in the whole thing. It basically (includes) everything from a child up. All their vaccinations are put in GRITS,” he said. “When someone comes in, we can look and say ‘you had your pneumonia shot, when you were 60. Now you’re 68 and it’s time to get it (again).’ I think it’s comforting to people because they get that we’re looking out for them.”
Although the demand for this year’s flu shots started less than two months ago, it won’t be long till Purvis is making an advance order for next year’s flu vaccine.
“You actually order them 8-10 months in advance, so we will be making our orders in about a month or so for the next flu season. You’re trying to anticipate what the demand will be and things like that. Last November, nobody had even heard the word COVID,” he said. “We get in as much (vaccine) as we can. It slowly rolls in throughout the season and, this year, it has went very quickly.”
If the shots aren’t used, they can’t be carried over to next flu season, he added.
“If I buy a drug today, it will probably have an expiration date of three years on it and I’ll have the three years to dispense that drug. A flu shot is very different. It’s a short window,” Purvis said. “The shot also changes every year based on whatever they’re picking up in the Southern Hemisphere. They produce (a vaccine) for the Northern Hemisphere, then the Southern Hemisphere, in turn, pulls back off our mutations from the Northern Hemisphere. It’s going back and forth all the time.”
An old adage can be used to describe preventative steps being taken during this year’s flu season, Purvis noted.
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” he said. “Everybody’s concerned. (The thinking is) let’s just not get sick.”