Sept.14, 2017
People in eight
select communities across Texas will be protected from influenza, or flu, thanks
to special grants from the Texas Medical Association’s (TMA’s) Be Wise — ImmunizeSM program. TMA recently awarded more
than $20,300 in grants to physicians, and TMA Alliance
(TMAA) and medical student chapters to provide free and low-cost flu shots to
uninsured and underinsured Texans in their hometowns. Shot clinics will take
place this week and throughout the fall in Allen, Galveston, Haltom City,
Houston, Lubbock, Manvel, Paris, and Peñitas in the Rio Grande Valley.
The flu is a
viral illness that is much more severe than a common cold and can keep people
sick for seven to 10 days — and may lead to more severe, life-threatening
illnesses such as pneumonia. Even healthy people can get very sick from the flu
and spread it to others. Some people are at higher risk for complications from
the flu: elderly
people, young children, pregnant women, and people with chronic medical
conditions. Physicians urge most everyone, but most importantly these groups of
people, to get a flu shot every year, which is why so many host Be Wise — Immunize
flu shot clinics.
TMA created the
Be Wise — Immunize Local Impact
Grants program in 2012
to enable members of TMA and TMAA (an organization of physician volunteers and
spouses) to help ensure their communities are healthy by offering childhood,
adolescent, and adult vaccinations at special events and clinics. Members often
partner with local organizations to reach residents in need.
In five years,
TMA has awarded 84 grants totaling $157,600 to provide more than 12,000
vaccinations across the state through the Local Impact Grants program. The TMA Foundation (TMAF), TMA’s philanthropic arm, funds Be
Wise — Immunize and the Local Impact Grants.
“Flu can be
deadly, but, thankfully, can be prevented with a vaccination. Our grant funding
will help Texans avoid an uncomfortable illness, missed work, and potential hospitalization
or even death,” said TMAF President Leslie H. Secrest, MD, of Dallas.
The funding is
timely, as flu season begins in October, typically forcing some 200,000 people
in the United States into the hospital each year. As many as 48,000 people have
died from flu in a season.
Texas
physicians and shot-clinic volunteers will begin vaccinating Texans Saturday
through this program. TMA awarded these grants, ranging from $700 to $2,500:
- Drs. Lekshmi Nair, Hema
Salvady, and Jyoti Rao of Manvel, along with Love to Share Foundation America,
will provide free flu shots to Brazoria County children and adults, including
the high-dose vaccine for senior citizens, at the 7th Annual Life & Soul Health
Fair on Sept. 16 at Sai Primary Care in Manvel.
- Stephen
B. Vaughn, MD, of Fort Worth, along with North
Texas Area Community Health Centers, will provide free flu vaccinations to Haltom City residents at a Sept.
30 Health Fiesta on the Beach, a wellness event at Bethesda Community
Church.
- Lekshmi Nair, MD, along with Love
to Share Foundation America-Dallas
chapter, will
provide free flu vaccinations at the Life & Soul Health Fair in Allen on Oct. 7.
- Paris-Lamar County Health District and Lamar-Delta County Medical Society (CMS), will give 400 free flu shots to local adults (18 years and older) at its fourth
annual drive-through clinic at the First Federal Community Bank in Paris onOct. 28.
- The
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine TMA Chapter will counter low flu
vaccination rates and high incidence of influenza in Hidalgo County by
administering 100 free flu vaccinations to residents of Pueblo de Palmas
colonia in Peñitas.
The shots will be given during the Vaquero Clinica de Salud in early November.
- David
Hobson, MD, and Spring
Branch Community Health Center
will provide free flu shots to 130 underserved children and adults in the Houston area during a multiday flu
drive event in November.
- The University of Texas Medical Branch
School of Medicine
Family Medicine lnterest Group in Galveston will offer free flu shots
during its sixth annual immunization drive at The Luke Society Clinic on Nov. 4 and 11.
- Baylor College of Medicine TMA Chapter and the McGovern Medical School at The
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston TMA Chapter will partner with the H.O.M.E.S.
Clinic, a student- run medical clinic that provides medical care for homeless people,
to give free flu vaccinations at the Beacon
homeless shelter in Houston. Baylor’s event is Nov. 4, and the McGovern Medical School
events are Nov. 5 and Dec. 3.
- South Plains Immunization
Network, along
with Lubbock-Crosby-Garza CMS Alliance, will give free flu
shots to adults in Lubbock in conjunction with South Plains Food Bank onNov. 7 and Dec. 9.
TMA actively works to improve
vaccination rates in Texas through its Be Wise — Immunize program. Nearly 330,000
shots have been given to Texas children, adolescents, and adults since the
program began in 2004. TMAF funds the Be Wise program in 2017 through generous
support from H-E-B and TMF Health Quality Institute, along with contributions
from physicians and their families.
TMA has
published an infographic about flu vaccination, in
English and Spanish.
TMA is the largest state
medical society in the nation, representing more than 50,000 physician and
medical student members. It is located in Austin and has 110 component county
medical societies around the state. TMA’s key objective since 1853 is to improve
the health of all Texans.
Note: Reporters
are welcome to cover these local events. Contact TMA for more information.
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Be
Wise — Immunize is a service mark of the Texas Medical Association.
Contact: Brent Annear (512) 370-1381; cell: (512) 656-7320; email: brent.annear[at]texmed[dot]org
Marcus Cooper (512) 370-1382; cell: (512)
650-5336; email: marcus.cooper[at]texmed[dot]org
Connect with TMA on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
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