The Alleghany/Roanoke City Health Districts received a shipment of seasonal flu vaccine and will begin giving seasonal flu shots in early September.

The districts, which serve Roanoke, Salem, Vinton, Covington and Clifton Forge, and the counties of Roanoke, Alleghany, Botetourt and Craig, will begin holding flu shot clinics Thursday at numerous locations.

Public health officials are pushing for people to get vaccinated against the seasonal flu, especially in light of the threat of the H1N1 flu virus, or swine flu. The seasonal flu shot will not vaccinate against swine flu. The vaccine for H1N1 is not yet available, but is expected by mid- or late October.

Dr. Stephanie Harper, director of the Alleghany/Roanoke City Health Districts, said in a news release "the best time to get vaccinated for seasonal flu is now."

Health department spokesman Robert Parker said similar clinics will be set up in the New River Valley Health District, but times and locations for those have not been announced.

The New River Valley District is still waiting for its shipment of vaccine to arrive.

"We're just at the very beginning of the time period when this stuff will be available," Parker said. "Also, we hear of some concern about getting it too early. It's important to know if they get the vaccine now they will be fully protected through the end of the season."

The health department will accept all forms of insurance to cover the cost, Parker said. The uninsured should call the health department.

"We're still working out the details of out-of-pocket [costs] or how we will handle those without insurance," he said. "We're working to resolve that so [being uninsured] will not be an obstacle."

Harper, through Parker, declined to say how many doses of vaccine her two districts have received so far.

"We don't have a number to give you," Parker said. "She said we have enough vaccine to administer this program that we are announcing and we can get more. There is not a concern about a shortage of availability."

Parker said Harper also didn't want to indicate which of the vaccine manufacturers the district has contracted with to buy the vaccine. There are five manufacturers approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to make the vaccine. Parker said the vaccine came from one of the five.

He said he didn't know how much taxpayer money was spent to purchase the vaccine.

The health department recommends the following get vaccinated each year:

n Children between 6 months and 19 years old;

n Pregnant women;

n People 50 years of age and older;

n People with certain chronic medical conditions;

n People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities;

n Health care workers;

n Caregivers of infants less than 6 months old.