By Claire Schlaman
For The Signal
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles will be offering free flu shots every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at participating locations. No appointment is needed, and everyone in a family can take advantage of this opportunity until Dec. 19, according to organizers.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America recommend everyone over 6 months of age receive the flu vaccine every year.
“It’s very important to get a flu shot this year, and we recommend everyone take part in this event,” said Patrick Moody, director of marketing and public relations at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.
A Children’s Hospital doctor said the effort was part of a partnership with L.A. County to help increase the availability of the flu vaccine.
“We do know right now, during the pandemic, that there are many areas that have shut down, different areas, different clinics and different opportunities to receive the flu vaccine,” said Dr. Mona Patel, pediatrician and vice president of ambulatory operations at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “That’s why Children’s Hospital Los Angeles partnered with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to be able to do several pop-up clinics to be able to engage our populations and offer the flu vaccine as an opportunity to immunize the population.”
Drive-up clinics are available in Arcadia, Encino and Valencia. A walk-up clinic is also available in Torrance. The address for the Valencia location is 23838 Valencia Blvd.
“Currently, right now the pandemic, we are very concerned with overwhelming our health care system capacity with COVID, and potentially with influenza,” said Patel. “As a community benefit, our hospital wanted to align with areas such as Arcadia, Valencia, Encino and South Bay to be able to offer this for free because we wanted to limit any type of barrier our patients, our families and anyone in the community has to access flu vaccines.”
For more information on this event, visit www.CHLA.org/events.
