Hill Country Memorial Wellness Center will offer H1N1 flu shots at a walk-in clinic December 10 and again December 17 from 1:00pm to 4:00pm.

Dawn Bourgeois, Wellness Center director, said the shots will be $15 each and will be administered on a first-come first-serve basis while supplies last.

Mark Rogers, RN, Hill Country Memorial Hospital’s director of care management, said the Center for Disease Control recommends the following high-risk population be vaccinated first:

• Pregnant women because they are at higher risk of complications and can potentially provide protection to infants who cannot be vaccinated;

• Household contacts and caregivers for children younger than six months of age because younger infants are at higher risk of influenza-related complications and cannot be vaccinated. Vaccination of those in close contact with those younger than six months might help protect infants by “cocooning” them from the virus;

• Health care and emergency medical services personnel because infections among health care workers have been reported and can be a potential source of infection for vulnerable patients. Also, increased absenteeism in this population could reduce health care system capacity;

• All people from six months through 24 years of age. Children from 6 months through 18 years of age because cases of 2009 H1N1 influenza have been seen in children who are in close contact with each other in school and day care settings, which increases the likelihood of disease spread; Young adults 19 through 24 years of age because many cases of 2009 H1N1 influenza have been seen in this age group who often live, work, and study in close proximity, and they are a frequently mobile population;

• Persons aged 25 through 64 years who have health conditions associated with higher risk of medical complications from influenza.

Rogers said officials expect there will be enough vaccine available for anyone who wishes to receive it in the near future. “However, we do ask that people adhere to these recommendations as to who should be vaccinated first.”

For more information, call the Wellness Center at 997-1355.