Drive-thru flu shots

As the pandemic surges, Dignity Health is stressing the need for residents to get their flu shots.

"With the coronavirus out there, it is important to get protected from influenza," said Nora Garza, health screening specialist for Dignity Health. "The governor is calling it a "twindemic." We know that covid-19 can kill you, and influenza can kill you, so the two together would be a very deadly combination."

Last Saturday, cars lined the street to the Shafter Aquatic Center as the two-hour clinic gave out flu shots to anyone 18 years and older. However if an entire family was in the vehicle, everyone received a flu shot.

"This vaccine is for people of any age," she said. "It is not age-specific as some of the vaccines that target a certain age group."

Garza said Dignity Health chose Shafter so they could reach out to the outlying areas of the county especially given the amount of vaccines they have for this year.

"We have 300 shots for this clinic and we are also going to go to two other clinics in the near future in the outlying areas," Garza said. "With the extra vaccines, I decided that we needed to go to the rural areas of Kern County. A lot of times, these cities get forgotten about, so I wanted to make sure that Shafter and other cities like them will get the opportunity for this clinic, helping them avoid a trip to Bakersfield."