Nassau County and South Nassau Communities Hospital offering no-cost flu shots on Feb.22

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In a collaboration between Nassau County and South Nassau Communities Hospital, no-cost flu shots will be provided from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Feb. 22 at locations in Oceanside and Long Beach.

The vaccinations are available to adults and children who have not yet been vaccinated this season. Those with insurance will not be charged any out-of-pocket costs, and those without will not have to pay.

Roughly 200 adult and 250 children’s vaccines will be made available on a first-come-first-serve basis. Some were donated by the Nassau County Department of Health.

“We are still seeing flu cases here in Nassau County,” said Joe Calderone, South Nassau’s senior vice president of communications, at a news conference on Feb. 21. “Our hospital is pretty much at capacity, and many of the folks have the flu.”

According to the New York State Department of Health, from Feb. 4 to Feb. 10, there were 16,804 laboratory-confirmed influenza reports – a 7 percent increase from the previous week – with more than 1,000 cases in Nassau County alone. Additionally, two children in the state died from the disease last week, and there have been a total of five children statewide have died from the flu this season.

“We’ve been seeing a lot of flu cases,” Dr. Joyce Robert, a family medicine physician at South Nassau’s clinics in Oceanside and Long Beach, said at the news conference. She pointed out that the flu season typically lasts until April, sometimes even May. “We still encourage our patients to get the flu vaccine. … It’s definitely not too late.”

Residents can receive a flu shot at South Nassau’s Family Medicine Centers at 196 Merrick Rd. in Oceanside or 761 Franklin Blvd. in Long Beach. No appointment is necessary.