Alberta Health Services officially opened its public flu shot clinics in Edmonton on Oct. 28, a full week after the rest of the province saw their clinics rolled out.
The delay was due to the city having what AHS described as a large population of high-risk people who needed outreach services, like seniors lodges and long-term care centres.
To find a clinic near you, you can use the clinic locator tool on the AHS website.
It usually takes about two weeks for the vaccine to provide protection.
“It’s most important to be immunized before you get challenged with influenza,” said Dr. Chris Sikora, AHS Edmonton zone medical officer of health.
“It’s the reason why we have this extra access… you can be immunized early in the season so that you can get protected early.”
You can also get the shot from some pharmacies and physician offices, which have been available for several weeks.
The province purchased 1.6 million doses of the influenza vaccine for the 2019-2020 season at a total cost of $12.5 million.
During last season, over 1.3 million doses were administered to Albertans.