Merritt residents battle the flu
At left, Theresa Flottvik receives a flu shot for the H1N1 virus at the Merritt Civic Centre, Nov. 4.Photos by Jed Anderson
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Merrittonians are taking the advice of the health authority and lining up dutifully for their flu shots.
Sandie Bardua gets the seasonal flu shot every year and she said she will be getting both the seasonal and the H1N1 flu vaccines. Waiting at the back of a long line at the clinic at the Civic Centre on Wednesday, she said, “I just don’t want to take any chances because I have a chronic illness.” Her son suggested he might not get himself and his own son vaccinated, but Bardua said she called him to convince him to change his mind. “I called him and I said, ‘I have to tell you, this is serious,’” she said in reference to the reports of serious illness and deaths associated with swine flu.
For those with underlying health concerns and those with young children, the desire to be vaccinated as soon as possible is evident.
Heather Foden brought her two-year old son to the clinic Nov. 4 because her doctor recommended it. She got the H1N1 shot last week in Kelowna because she is afraid of giving her children the flu.
“We’re seeing a much greater interest in both flu vaccines at this time,” said health unit aid Candice Bateson. “People that my not have opted to get one last year are keen.”
Health workers at the clinic said there have been cases of H1N1 flu in Merritt, but could not confirm how many.
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