Contact:
Tammy Yzaguirre, Public Information Officer
Lee-PIO@flhealth.gov
(239) 308-5196

Fort Myers, Fla., — The Florida Department of Health in Lee County (DOH-Lee) is canceling the remaining pop-up walk-up COVID-19 testing and vaccine mobile outreach dates for the month of December.

DOH Lee has shifted their outreach efforts to providing the COVID-19 vaccine to high-risk frontline health care workers and those 65 and older.

The Department strongly encourages all unvaccinated residents to get their flu shot as soon as possible. Flu vaccination is the best way to prevent the flu and its potentially serious complications. The flu vaccine is available to anyone age 6 months and older. Anyone not feeling well will not receive the flu vaccine. The Hepatitis A vaccine is available to anyone age 18 and older.

DOH-Lee will continue to offer free COVID-19 testing and flu and Hepatitis A vaccines by appointment at our location at 3920 Michigan Avenue, Fort Myers, FL. Appointments can be made by calling 239-461-6100.

Influenza Vaccine

The best time to receive a flu vaccine is before flu viruses begin spreading in the community. It takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body and provide protection against flu so plan to get vaccinated early in fall, before flu season begins. CDC recommends that people get a flu vaccine by the end of October.

According to CDC, getting a flu vaccine will not protect against COVID-19, however flu vaccination has many other important benefits. Last year’s vaccine may not protect against the current year’s strain. Even if the vaccine does not fully protect against the flu, the vaccines have been shown to reduce the risk of flu illness, hospitalization and death. Getting a flu vaccine this fall will be more important than ever, not only to reduce your risk from flu but also to help conserve potentially scarce health care resources.

Hepatitis A Vaccine

Hepatitis A is a contagious liver disease that results from infection with the hepatitis A virus (HAV). It can range in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a severe illness lasting several months. Hepatitis A is usually spread when a person ingests fecal matter—even in microscopic amounts—from contact with objects, food, or drinks contaminated by feces (stool) of an infected person.

Vaccination is the best way to prevent hepatitis A.

More Information on COVID-19

To find the most up-to-date information and guidance on COVID-19, please visit the Department of Health’s dedicated COVID-19 webpage. For information and advisories from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), please visit the CDC COVID-19 website, this website is also available in Spanish and Creole.

Additional information is also available at leegov.com/covid-19.

For more information about current travel advisories issued by the U.S. Department of State, please visit the travel advisory website. For any other questions related to COVID-19 in Florida,  please contact the Department’s dedicated COVID-19 Call Center by calling 1-866-779-6121. The Call Center is available 24 hours per day. Inquiries may also be emailed to COVID-19@flhealth.gov.

About the Florida Department of Health

The Department works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts.

Follow us on Twitter at @HealthyFla and on Facebook. For more information about the Florida Department of Health please visit www.FloridaHealth.gov.