The Cascade City-County Health Department in Great Falls will conduct several immunization clinics over the next few weeks.
On Wednesday, September 21, from 10am-4pm, you can get your flu shot in your car at a drive-thru clinic at the Four Seasons Arena.
On Wednesday, September 28, from 10am-4pm, there will be a walk-in clinic in the Four Seasons Arena.
On Thursday, October 20, from 10am-4pm, there will be walk-in clinic at the Great Falls Public Library.
CCHD accepts most major insurance providers, including Humana BCBS Medicare Advantage. If you do not have insurance, CCHD accepts cash, check, or credit/debit card. A standard dose vaccine is $40, and a higher dose is $80. No one will be turned away for inability to pay.
COVID immunizations and boosters will also be offered at each clinic. An egg-free flu vaccine is available upon request.
"I would just say, in general, it is important to get your flu shot,” said Abigail Hill, Cascade City-County Health Department Health Officer. "I think a lot of people shrug off when they get the flu, thinking 'Eh, I'll miss a day at work' or 'I'll be fine' but we do see hospitalizations. You can see pneumonia and some other complications.”
Dr. Bruce Lee with the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health said getting a shot for the 2022 flu season is especially important because many people have taken precautions the past couple of years.
"Now that many people aren't maintaining a lot of those precautions, and also the fact that people haven't been exposed to the flu over the past couple years, leaves people a lot more susceptible,” Lee explained.
Getting a flu shot doesn't mean you won't get sick, but it can protect you from severe symptoms.
"We do look to what's circulating throughout the globe when we pick the strains for our flu shot. So they do change every year, the side effects change every year. The symptoms, if you get the flu, change every year,” said Hill.
For people under the age of 18, two walk-in clinics are scheduled and shots will be offered on Fridays in October at fire stations.
"First week will be fire station number one, second week number two, number three, number four,” Hill explained. "It just is an incentive I think for kids to want to go see the fire trucks and it also is a great community collaboration."
For more information, call the CCHD at 406-454-6950, or click here to visit the website.
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