A spokesperson for Southern Health says she is encouraged by the number of flu shots provided this year in the region.

Flu shot clinics have now wrapped, and Bev Unger says though final numbers have not yet been made public, it would appear more shots were given this year than last year. She suspects medical clinics and pharmacies experienced the same trend.

Southern Health held 71 advertised clinics in 58 communities, running from October 22nd to the last week of November. In addition to that, there were also approximately 35 outreach clinics, designed to help seniors with mobility issues, or those who find it a challenge to get to a clinic. Other outreach clinics are held at places like Steinbach Family Resource Centre or the food bank. Unger notes their response rates from seniors is generally really good.

Unger says the local response to these clinics differs from year to year at various locations. Sometimes, the turnout is based on the timing of the clinics, as there are those who want to get the shot as soon as they can and will seek out the vaccine early in the season.

And, even though there was a delay in the vaccine shipment nation-wide, Manitoba Health received 100 per cent of the order placed for the province.

"I think the majority of the providers received what they ordered," she says. "May have been a little bit later than they had in previous years or that we had originally planned for but it does mean that people do have continued access to the flu vaccine, which is a very good thing."

Unger says though flu shot clinics have ended, many pharmacies and primary health care providers are still giving shots.

Historically, Southern Health is the region with one of the lowest immunization rates in the province. However, Unger says their numbers last year were up a little bit over the previous year. She says if that trend continues again this year, that will be positive. Yet, she is not certain why immunization rates lag in this part of the province.

"Whether that's because people aren't convinced that the flu shot helps, or haven't bought into it," she questions.

Meanwhile, Manitoba Health is reporting low activity of influenza in our province. Unger says both Influenza A and B are circulating.

Unger reminds the public that washing your hands regularly is a great way to prevent colds and influenza.

"Think of the number of surfaces that you touch in a single day and now think of all the other people who have touched those same surfaces," she says. "So hand hygiene is really important."

She also encourages coughing or sneezing into a sleeve, scarf or tissue as it will help prevent spreading colds and flu.