Free vaccinations are available to Greene County residents 60 and older at the Springfield-Greene County Health Department. The vaccines are made possible by the Greene County Senior Citizen Services Fund.
Peggy Welte, a registered nurse at the health department and the person who administers the vaccines, said they have the two-dose shingles vaccine (Shingrix), pneumonia, tetanus and whooping cough (Tdap), RSV, flu and Covid.
She encourages anyone, especially older citizens, to get vaccinated.
"As we age, our immune system is not quite what it was when we were younger, so we're more susceptible to things," said Welte, "and they become more complicated more quickly — easily develop into pneumonia, and we end up in the hospital."
Immunizations can prevent illness, and if people do get sick, the vaccines help keep the illness from becoming serious.
The vaccines are available Tuesdays and Thursdays at the health department, 227 E. Chestnut Expressway, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can make an appointment by calling 417-864-1658.
Welte said they have plenty of vaccines in stock.
