The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department and the Santa Barbara County Medical Reserve Corps are providing free flu shots for all community members older than age 2 at clinics in Goleta and Lompoc.

The flu clinics provide a unique opportunity for residents to get a free flu shot to protect their health, and also help their community prepare for an emergency.

An annual flu vaccination is the best way to prevent the flu and the flu-related complications that could lead to hospitalization and even death. Health experts across the country recommend that everyone 6 months and older get a flu vaccine. Flumist vaccines will be available at this event for ages two years to 49 years and the injectable vaccine for 3 years and older.

Each year the Public Health Department exercises its community mass vaccination plan. The flu clinics in Goleta and Lompoc serve to familiarize residents with the mass vaccination clinic operation and to improve the county’s mass vaccination plan.

The event is funded through the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program.

The Goleta clinic will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3 at the Goleta Valley Community Center, 5679 Hollister Ave. The Lompoc clinic will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6 at the Lompoc Fire Station, 115 South G St.

For more information regarding these events or other places to get flu shots in the area, click here or call the Santa Barbara County Immunization Program at 805.346.8420.