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Daily Voice asked Jane Clementi, the supervisor of public health in the Department of Community Health and Community Benefit at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, for five reasons to get a flu shot.
Her response:
5. It's cost effective. "Flu vaccination is the most effective way to prevent the flu," Clementi said. "The vaccination is covered by most health insurance plans -- and if yours does not cover it, the immunization usually costs between $20 and $30."
4. It's "readily available and in abundant supply," she said.
3. Despite what others might say, the shot doesn't give you the flu. "It is safe, with only occasional mild reactions including soreness, redness or swelling where the vaccine was given," Clementi emphasized. "Serious reactions are rare."
2. You keep your loved ones and close contacts healthy, "especially those most frail," she said. They include "people with secondary health conditions, those over the age of 65, as well as the most vulnerable: infants under 6 months of age, who are the most susceptible to influenza and are at the greatest risk for hospitalization and even death from the flu."
1. "The Center For Diseases Control recommends a yearly flu vaccine as the first and most important step in protecting against flu viruses," Clementi concluded. "Although the flu vaccine is not 100% effective, it still prevents many illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths due to the flu."
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