Ages 60 and above or with Medicare are free of charge
Flu activity is now widespread in New York state, with 47 counties and all five New York City boroughs reporting confirmed cases for the week ending Dec. 13. Influenza is unpredictable, but the predominant strain circulating this year has been associated with some of the more severe flu seasons in the past. Vaccination is key in reducing the severity of symptoms, hospitalizations and deaths, even if the vaccine is not a perfect match, as has been reported this year.
Flu season usually peaks in February, so it is not too late to get vaccinated. The Putnam County Department of Health (PCDOH) is offering a “last-chance” flu clinic, Tuesday, Jan. 6, from 2 to 6:30 p.m., at 1 Geneva Road in Brewster, for residents still needing a vaccination.
The clinic is open to all Putnam County residents, 3 years and older. The fee for flu vaccine is $25 for residents under 60 years of age. Those 60 years and older, or with a Medicare card, can receive the vaccine free of charge. High-dose flu vaccine is being offered for seniors 65 years and older (as studies show this vaccine is more effective for this population). Proof of residency (driver’s license) and Medicare card is required.
No appointments are necessary. Forms will be available online at the Putnam County website at putnamcountyny.com. In order to streamline the onsite process, people are encouraged to download the forms, complete them and bring them to the clinic. Forms will also be available at the clinic, if needed. In the event of inclement weather, call the PCDOH flu hotline at 845-808-1390.
“The vaccine is not a perfect match, as has been reported this year.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced that this year’s flu vaccine is worthless, as virus strains in circulation do not match the ones in the vaccine. And Dr. David Perlmutter, a neurologist and researcher on Alzheimer’s Disease, has reported a statistical increase of AD in those who receive annual flu vaccinations.
Vaccinations are designed to prevent a specific disease by stimulating the immune system. Adjuvants such as mercury and formaldehyde are added to increase their efficacy or prevent bacterial growth in the vial. But what happens if a patients immune system is challenged by age, genetics, nutritional deficiencies, stress, etc.? Many parents have opted out of vaccinating their children to avoid the risk of autism and other developmental disorders associated with vaccinating too young, with too many doses and often unnecessary vaccines. (Give me a break, someone please give a rational explanation for a Hepatitis B vaccine at birth!)
As a veterinarian, I have seen many adverse events after vaccination. Dr. Jean Dodds, renowned veterinary immunologist, has written about our current epidemic of hypothyroidism in dogs caused by an autoimmune reaction from vaccination. Enlightened veterinarians are now recommending a vaccine titer before repeating any vaccination after the series of “puppy” or “kitten” shots, and especially after Rabies vaccination. Many of these pet vaccines have been found to provide lifelong immunity after just one shot given at the appropriate age (which is not at 6 weeks, or just after weaning when maternal antibodies interfere with the vaccination).
There are many sources of information to support my contentions beyond my own and my family’s adverse experiences with vaccination (cancer, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis). Check out Mercola.com for resources. And the Weston A. Price Foundation has much information on alternatives to vaccination, which are lifestyle choices and diet primarily.
Please remember, any pharmaceutical agent that has the potential to have a profound effect on our body, also has the potential to cause profound harm. Be an informed consumer!
Thank you Mary for voicing what I have felt for many decades. The pharmaceutical industry is doing us a disservice. In particular flu vaccines are pushed on folks who believe they are protected. As far as I am concerned it is big business. I am grateful to be healthy through conscious eating, whole foods without additives, occasional clean grass fed meat and poultry, healthy grass fed fats and a minimum of sugar.
Here’s to good health for the New Year.
Mary Ellen, please do not continue spreading the false claim that there is ANY connection between childhood vaccinations and autism or developmental disabilities. This has been proved wrong in study after study over the past 20 years. This erroneous and poorly researched claim has done more to endanger children and adults health than any possible side effect from a few shots.
Vaccinations prevent disease. Smallpox has been virtually eradicated worldwide-the vaccine is no longer given in the US . Polio is almost unheard of anymore, yet I remember in my own lifetime a kindergarten friend who succumbed to the disease. I will also never forget the case of measles I contracted at age 10, before the MMR vaccine was available. Our family was quarantined, I was frighteningly delirious from fever and I lost my vision for 5 days. At that time there was no way to know if my vision would ever return.
Our society has been protected from these monstrous diseases for so long that we take our immunity for granted and worse, invent fictional dangers from the very practices that keep disease at bay. Most young parents have never seen the horrible deformities and deafness caused by diphtheria or heard the horrifying whoop from a toddler or recently, adults, suffering from pertussis. Yet now, due to one quack research study, we see these diseases returning to everyone’s detriment.
There is no guarantee that every flu vaccine is going to work 100% effectively every year. However, it’s a far sight better to protect oneself and ones’ family as best you can than to see another 1918 pandemic where conservative estimates figure it caused 25 million deaths or 3% of the global population.
Dear Lynn, I apologize for not providing adequate documentation that can demonstrate that vaccine reactions are not “fictional dangers” (and I doubt that respected researchers such as Drs. Perlmutter and Dodds would rely on one “quack research study” for their contentions.)
In 2011, the United States Supreme Court ruled that federally licensed and recommended vaccines are “unavoidably unsafe” and that the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) should be the “sole remedy” for all vaccine injury claims. (Supreme Court of the United States Blog. Bruesewitz v. Wyeth. Feb.22, 2011) In the U.S. News November 21, 2014 issue, the Associated Press reported that the U.S. government had distributed $2.8 billion in compensation through the VICP from 1988 through March 2014. Although the VICP was established to assist children injured by vaccines, most claims are now filed by adults suffering injury after receiving the flu vaccine, with most cases involving Gullain-Barre Syndrome (GBS). (see GAO 2014 report, RSA.gov, Vaccine Compensation Report)
Some flu vaccines, including the adult high-dose flu vaccine for seniors sold under the name Fluzone, also list Gullain-Barre as a potential side effect in the package insert. The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (vaers.hhs.gov) receives ~30,000 vaccine injury reports annually, and the VAERS database lists 8,000 different adverse vaccine reactions, from localized swelling and anaphylactic shock, to autism, coma and death (http://wonder.cdc.gov/vaers.html), (vaccinationcouncil.org, Shawn Siegel, October 19, 2013)
Recently reported pertussis and mumps outbreaks have occurred predominantly among the vaccinated, and measles outbreaks have also involved vaccinated persons. (medpagetoday.com, 11/27/12), (cid.oxfordjournals.org, 2008), (CBS News, 10/20/11)
I believe that it is important to become fully informed about all risks and make informed vaccine and other health care decisions for yourself and your child. While making vaccine recommendations to parents is beyond the scope of my practice, I do recommend that my veterinary clients use a scientific approach to vaccinations: After the series of puppy and kitten shots (at 12 and 16 weeks of age) and a Rabies vaccination after 6 months of age (but never given during periods of stress such as estrus or at surgical spay-neutering), the boosters should ONLY be given if a vaccine titer blood test has been performed and indicates the need for additional booster shots. This test may not be performed routinely yet due to the additional expense, but it can prevent the imbalance of the TH1 and TH2 immune system that can lead to auto-immunity and cancer.
As I have said, it is important to be an informed consumer. I do NOT say that you should never vaccinate a susceptible animal!
What the first comment says the CDC said about the vaccine is far from what it really said. I’ll take that as a sign of the reliability of the rest of the commentator’s claims.
“Unfortunately, about half of the H3N2 viruses that we’ve analyzed this season are different from the H3N2 virus that’s included in this year’s flu vaccine. They are different enough that we’re concerned that protection from vaccinations against these drifted H3N2 viruses may be lower than we usually see. Most of the other viruses identified are the same as the viruses covered by the vaccine. We continue to recommend flu vaccine as the single best way to protect yourself against the flu. Vaccine will protect against the strands that are covered in the vaccine and may have some effectiveness against the drifted strain.”
Thank you for that correction. From the reference provided, the CDC reported that last year’s flu vaccine was 50% to 55% effective, and due to antigenic drift from the strains in this year’s vaccine, there may be lower efficacy. Hence, the CDC is recommending antiviral drugs at the first symptoms of influenza.
Personally, a 50-50 chance of getting the flu after receiving the vaccine does not inspire confidence when there are alternative means of protection. I have found Echinacea tincture to be quite effective prophylaxis, also Vitamin C (2-3 grams every hour to bowel intolerance), Vitamin D (50,000 IU’s a day for 3days), herbs such as Andrographis, Isatis or Olive Leaf extracts, and the homeopathic preparation Oscillococcinum (which not only can prevent but also reduce duration of symptoms once the flu has been contracted).
Thank you Mary Ellen. I’m a fan of the alternatives you mention, but was not aware of the herbs and Vitamin C dosages you indicate. Thanks again.
Dr. Finger is both a friend and our family veterinarian. Her treatment approach to our beloved pet several years ago saved his life when he was on the verge of dying from chronic lung disease, and she continues to be his physician. She is also one of the smartest people I know, in any field.
The global pharmaceutical industry and the government agencies that regulate it have given us plenty of evidence that profits are their prime motivator. That said, immunizations –- particularly for deadly diseases like smallpox and polio –- are a modern miracle. Two of my older siblings were Polio Pioneers in the 1950s. I was not, and came down with polio when I was a toddler. Parents need to weigh all of the possibilities when making vaccination decisions. Seeing your child unable to walk or even breathe because of a preventable disease is one scenario to which no one should aspire.