RED CROSS TO OFFER FREE FLU SHOTS TODAY.

Byline: Daily News

SANTA CLARITA - Offering protection before the fall flu season begins, the American Red Cross today will provide free vaccinations against influenza for seniors.

The clinic will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Valencia Library, 23743 W. Valencia Blvd.

More than 700 Santa Clarita Valley seniors have already gotten their flu shots in the last two weeks, but the numbers are less than those of last year.

The Red Cross staff suspects that because some seniors were turned away last year due to a shortage of vaccines, they are not making the trip to get vaccinated, assuming another shortage.

``We would encourage any local senior who has not gotten their shots to take advantage of the fact that we have plenty left,'' said Rick Radillo, spokesman for the American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles. He emphasized that today is the last day of the Valencia clinic.

Nurses will administer a vaccine designed to protect against what are considered the three most common strains of the virus for the next flu season that begins in January and lasts through March.

In order to qualify for the free vaccines, people must be at least 60 years old or have chronic illnesses such as heart, kidney or respiratory disease, or their immune systems must somehow be compromised.

Those who receive the shot will not catch the flu from the vaccine since it contains a dead virus. Those who get sick immediately after getting the flu shot have already been exposed to the virus.

The vaccine takes about two weeks to become active and begin providing protection against the flu, and lasts about six months.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, only about two thirds of seniors are receiving flu shots each year, and their target is 90 percent.

Influenza claims the lives of 18,000 seniors each year in the United States, and many of those deaths could have been prevented through annual inoculation against the most threatening strains.