No one wants to think about saying goodbye to our warm, sunny days in Canton, Ohio, but the calendar (if not the weather) is warning us that cooler temperatures are on the way.  As we near fall and winter, another season is looming: cold and flu season.  With flu season, however, comes flu shots, and this simple procedure can make your New Philadelphia, Ohio winter a much more pleasant one!  Even better?  Flu shots, along with the Shingles vaccine and pneumonia shot, are available at your nearest Medicine Center Pharmacy, including the Minerva, Ohio and Louisville, Ohio locations.  Medicine Center Pharmacy is pleased to help you protect yourself against the flu, avoid shingles, and prevent pneumonia, and maybe save you a trip to your physician’s office!

The most common misconception about the flu shot is that YOU don’t need one.  Some folks think that they’re only for the elderly or perhaps for people with already compromised lung function, but that is not the case at all.  In fact, the CDC recommends that everyone over 6 months of age should be vaccinated.  Everyone.  Are some people at greater risk for contracting influenza?  Absolutely.  Are there some people with zero chance of getting the flu?  Absolutely not.  Nobody wants to say “I told you so,” when you’re shivering under a heap of blankets and going through a box of tissues a day!  Flu season can begin as early as October—less than a month from now.  Medicine Center Pharmacy invites you (adults age 18 and over) to protect yourself against the flu by stopping in any time during regular business hours for your flu shot.  If you’re apprehensive, speak to the knowledgeable and compassionate staff members at Medicine Center Pharmacy.  They are more than happy to answer your questions and to make the process as comfortable for you as possible.

Medicine Center Pharmacy is also pleased to provide you with the shingles immunization, also know as Zostavax.  If you’re wondering why you need a vaccine for something that goes on your roof, well…don’t worry: you’re safe from those.  Shingles is caused by the same virus as chickenpox.  So, if you suffered from those itchy little spots when you were younger, you’re more susceptible to developing shingles as an adult.  The good news is that the vaccine offered by Medicine Center Pharmacy helps adults ages 60 and up avoid shingles.  This vaccine is available at all four Medicine Center locations—Canton, Minerva, Louisville, and New Philadelphia—for your convenience.

There’s one more immunization that you can find at Medicine Center Pharmacy, and that’s the pneumonia shot.  If there’s any way to prevent pneumonia, it is well worth your while to take advantage of it.  The pneumonia shot does not protect you against all forms of the illness, but it will help with one of the most common forms contracted outside of a hospital: bacterial pneumonia.  Everyone can benefit from the immunization, but if you fall into a high risk group—like diabetics and those with suppressed immune systems, just to name two—then you need to add “get pneumonia shot” to your to-do list right away!  Just call the Medicine Center Pharmacy nearest you or walk in anytime…no appointment necessary.

The pharmacists and team members at each Medicine Center Pharmacy want to help you stay happy and healthy during flu season and throughout the year.  Stop in, give them a call, or visit www.MedShopRX.com today for more information on how they can help you to protect yourself against the flu, avoid shingles, and prevent pneumonia in Canton, Ohio; Louisville, Ohio; Minerva, Ohio; and New Philadelphia, Ohio!