With the worst of flu season still ahead, medical officials in Waterloo Region report thousands of vaccinations distributed and four confirmed cases of the disease.
“It’s definitely in the community, but it hasn’t begun to get any traction,” says Karen Quigley-Hobbs, the region’s director of infectious disease.
The level of influenza cases thus far this fall is similar to that seen in 2013, Quigley-Hobbs says – and lower than during the more several, earlier-arriving 2012 flu season.
Meanwhile, the region has distributed 140,000 doses of vaccine into the community.
Many of those go to pharmacies or physicians, but the region itself has administered 1,700 flu shots at its clinics – the last of which takes place Monday in Elmira.
At the pharmacy in Grand River Hospital, 220 flu shots have been administered in the past month and a half – more than the 180 given out over the entirety of last year’s flu season.
“We encourage anyone who wants to get their flu shot to come in here and get vaccinated,” says hospital spokesperson Mark Karjaluoto.
“The flu is very preventable, and it can have some devastating consequences.”
Across Waterloo Region, there are more than 100 pharmacies offering influenza vaccinations this year.
