TUCSON, Ariz. — As Pima County continues to work to slow the spread of COVID-19, flu season is approaching.
Pima County said it's ready and is making flu vaccines available to the community.
“We're going to be pushing the flu vaccine this year because the flu we can prevent with a vaccine versus with COVID-19, we don't have that opportunity yet,” explained Crystal Rambaud, vaccine-preventable disease manager with the Pima County Health Department.
The county is doing that by partnering with Mollen, a company that will make vaccines available to the community in September.
“What they're going to do is they'll be able to go out in the community and really reach people that sometimes don't get vaccinated or it's harder for them to get vaccinated," she said.
The county explained they are trying to target populations that will have more negative outcomes if they contracted the virus.
The metrics from last year show flu season peaked at the end of February, with those between the ages of 19 to 49 hit the hardest.
Pima County understands people are skeptical about leaving their homes to be vaccinated but hopes to ease those fears.
“What do we say to most people is bad, given that there are so many safeguards in place for those healthcare places I think for most people, the risk of owning getting it is less than the benefit of getting a flu vaccine. So for most people, it's really worth it to be vaccinated,” said Rambaud.
Pima County is not anticipating any issues with the supply available, according to Rambaud.
She added the vaccines will be free of cost to those without insurance.
