St. David's CareNow Urges Austin Residents To Get Flu Shots Early

Tony Cantu
·3 min read

AUSTIN, TX — The flu season is on the horizon, and health officials at St. David's CareNow are urging residents to get vaccinated early.

The local advice differs from that of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommending people get a flu shot by the end of October. To promote earlier innoculation, St. David’s CareNow® currently is offering flu shots at all of its locations. The cost is $20 for self-pay patients, as well as those with health insurance.

Anxiety over the flu season has been heightened against the backdrop of the coronavirus.

“The best way to avoid getting the flu is to get the vaccine every year,” Dr. David Wasserman, market medical director at St. David’s CareNow, said in a prepared statement. “The sooner you can receive a flu shot, the better. It’s the best prevention method.”

The contagious respiratory illness is characterized by symptoms such as fever, cough, runny or stuffy nose, body aches and fatigue. It’s critical for all Central Texans — especially those with other medical conditions — to get a flu shot as early as possible, St. David's CareNow officials said. This is particularly true due to the risk of contracting COVID-19 and the flu at the same time, officials noted.

“COVID-19 and the flu season are going to overlap this winter,” Dr. Wasserman said. “It’s really important to get ahead of this before the flu season starts. Having both illnesses together could mean you have more severe symptoms.”

In addition to getting the flu vaccine, CareNow® experts also recommend following appropriate hygiene measures, which can protect against both COVID-19 and the flu:

  • Wear a mask in public places

  • Wash your hands consistently

  • Practice social distancing (stay at least six feet away from others)

Learn more about safety precautions at all CareNow locations here.

About CareNow

Since 1993, CareNow has been committed to providing high-quality family care, urgent care and occupational medicine services in the North Texas area. Open seven days a week and weeknights, CareNow has over 30 North Texas locations providing convenient, quality and cost-effective urgent care and is accredited by AAAHC and UCA. CareNow is affiliated with Medical City Healthcare. Medical City Healthcare has 45 urgent care centers in North Texas: CareNow (41) and Medical City Children’s Urgent Care (4). For more information, visitCareNow.com.

About St. David’s HealthCare

St. David’s HealthCare includes seven of the area’s leading hospitals and is one of the largest health systems in Texas. The organization has been recognized with a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award—the nation’s highest presidential honor for performance excellence. St. David’s HealthCare is the third-largest private employer in the Austin area, with more than 10,600 colleagues across 132 sites of care.

St. David’s HealthCare is a unique partnership between a hospital management company and two local non-profits—St. David’s Foundation and Georgetown Health Foundation. The proceeds from the operations of the hospitals fund the foundations, which, in turn, invest those dollars back into the community. Since the inception of St. David’s HealthCare in 1996, more than $611 million has been given back to the community to improve the health and healthcare of Central Texans.

This article originally appeared on the Austin Patch