HARLINGEN — Jennifer Beilman hesitated when a pharmacist asked if she’d like a flu shot.
“I don’t usually get a shot,” she said. “They make me sick.”
There was more discussion between her and Carlos Luna, the pharmacy manager at Walgreens at 1921 S. 77 Sunshine Strip. She wasn’t allergic to eggs, and the bad reaction had occurred 12 years earlier.
“Do you want to get the flu vaccine?” Luna asked her.
“Why not,” she said matter of factly.
They promptly went to an adjoining room set up for administering injections and she received her free flu shot.
Although Beilman, a construction medic by trade, came off as a pretty tough cookie, she made the right decision, said Penny Hodgins, director of Infection Prevention and Employee Health at Harlingen Medical Center.
“They should certainly get the flu vaccine annually, because 45,000 deaths per year is something that is just not smart,” Hodgins said. “It does make a big difference. It’s sad every year to see that people die from the flu and it’s not necessary.”
For the rest of this story and many other EXTRAS, go to our premium site, www.MyValleyStar.com.
Subscribe to it for only $6.99 per month or purchase a print subscription and receive the online version free, which includes an electronic version of the full newspaper and extra photo galleries, links and other information you can’t find anywhere else.
