Hundreds lined up to get flu shots Monday, the first day for the annual mass immunization clinics run by Alberta Health Services.

Among those lined up at Brentwood Village Mall was Tammy Lee, who brought her young son.

"I'm a nurse and it's important to get immunized so I don't take my germs home to my kids," she said.

"You don't want to get sick. The flu is really tough on the body and you don't want to bring those germs home to your loved ones."

Last year, more than 1,600 Albertans were hospitalized due to the disease. In an effort to lessen that, four Alberta Health Services drop-in clinics are open in Calgary from 11 a.m. to 6.45 p.m. on weekdays (excluding Wednesdays) and Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.

The free clinics are located at:

South Calgary Health Centre, 31 Sunpark Plaza S.E.

Richmond Road Diagnostic Treatment Centre, 302-1820 Richmond Rd. S.W.

Northgate Mall, A154-495 36th St. N.E.

Brentwood Village Mall, 3630 Brentwood Rd. N.W.

Vaccines will be available, free of charge, until March for all Albertans over six months old. Those under nine years old who are getting a shot for the first time will receive it in two doses, at least four weeks apart.

The mass clinics should be open until December, depending on demand. Following that, location information will be available on the AHS website.

Dr. Judy MacDonald, Calgary's medical officer of Health, appeared on the Calgary Eyeopener on Monday to explain what the flu shot protects against and who should get one.

Below is an abridged version of that conversation.

Q: This year's flu is reported to be pretty nasty. Do we know how well the vaccine will do against it?

A: It's always hard to predict anything about influenza, except that it's going to arrive, it'll do its thing then hopefully leave us alone for a little bit. What we know about what's happened in the southern hemisphere, particularly in Australia, is that they have had a tough time with one of the strains, influenza A (H3). And we also know that the vaccine covered that strain pretty well. Now we have the same vaccine in the northern hemisphere as they had in the southern hemisphere, so fingers crossed.

Q: Who brews up the potion for Alberta? Is it an Alberta-only thing or do we get together with the other provinces? Is it nationwide?

A: It is nationwide. There's only a few influenza vaccine manufacturers and they get the recipe, as it were, from the World Health Organization, back in February. They get to work right away but it takes a long time to make influenza vaccine.

Q: Shall we play our annual game of 'let's kill that flu shot myth,' can I get the flu from getting a needle?

A: No. The influenza vaccines we have are inactivated and killed and they carry maybe a split virus or another part of the virus. It's not possible to get influenza from the vaccine, but it is possible to get influenza if you don't get immunized.

Q: If I'm a healthy young person, why should I bother getting a flu shot?

A: It's good to be a healthy young person. However, you may find that you get influenza and you don't do so well with it. It's not a walk in the park, even if you are healthy. And sometimes even healthy people end up in hospital, or worse.

Q: If it's good for my body to naturally fight off the flu, why should I get the flu shot?

A: Because influenza is something that, if you've never had it before, you may think it's nothing. But if you have had it before, it can knock you out for several weeks at a time.

Q: That was my list of the most often quoted things I heard when people talk about getting the flu shot. Are there any I've missed?

A: There's one about, if the influenza vaccine doesn't match the strain that's coming, then why bother? And my answer to that is the influenza vaccine contains three or four of the strains that are expected to circulate, so even if there's not an exact match with one of those strains, you're certainly better off if you do get the vaccine … you are actually protecting yourself against a number of different strains.

Q: Is the nasal spray available this year?

A: It isn't available through the publicly funded program but there may be some pharmacies that are carrying it and you can get it by purchasing it. Most pharmacies will be carrying it, many family doctors as well.

Q: Have you had your shot yet?

A: I have.

With files from the Calgary Eyeopener