Mad rush to get flu shot in midst of outbreak - New York News | NYC Breaking News

Mad rush to get flu shot in midst of outbreak

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PHOENIX -

The CDC is calling this flu season one of the worst we've seen in years. 47 states are now reporting widespread flu activity, including Arizona, where some 500 new cases popped up in Maricopa County alone last week.

The surge in sickness has a lot of people rushing to get a flu shot. Clinics and pharmacies are getting inundated with calls about people trying to locate the vaccine.

One tool we found was on the Health and Human Services website. It has a Flu Shot Finder -- all you have to do is type in your zip code and the places that have it pop up.

We found some at a Safeway pharmacy Friday at 7th Street and McDowell, and even I decided to get a flu shot.

One customer after another filed in, trying to protect themselves from the flu.

"My doctor recommended it, other people recommended it…why wouldn't you," says Nancy Bonnet.

Most people typically get their flu shots during the fall, but because of a recent surge in flu cases, pharmacies are seeing a flood of patients -- many who normally don't get the shot.

"All of our pharmacies have gotten a number of calls, we're busy in all our stores," says Safeway Pharmacy manager Andrew Gaspar.

Gaspar says they have plenty of the vaccine in stock.

"Because we've been doing the flu shots for so long, we were able to secure a large supply at the beginning of the season so a lot of those doses we reserved and we have those coming in," says Gaspar.

According to the CDC, this year the vaccine appears to be about 62 percent effective against the current circulating strain of flu, which is actually slightly more effective than previous years.

Nancy Bonnet is glad she got hers today, and she points out its painless.

"Nobody wants that nobody wants to have to miss work, nobody wants to miss play, so you should probably go and get a shot."

Well I'm not a fan of needles either, and it really was painless.

Safeway pharmacy has a large supply in stock now and is getting more next week as well.

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