DON'T get laid low by flu this winter – get a jab now if you feel you may be at risk, say health teams throughout the area.

Nearly 10,000 vaccine shots for the Forest with many more for the Wye Valley and adjacent areas have been ordered, with clinics starting as early as next week.

"We are one of the bigger clinics in the area and I have ordered 1,200 shots plus 120 extra in case of emergencies," said Cinderford Health Centre practice manager Sally Charlton, who is urging all vulnerable groups to take advantage of the free protection.

The over-65s, diabetics, asthmatics, renal patients and a number of others are regarded 'high risk' and she is starting three weeks of flu jab clinics next Wednesday, October 10.

"Last year we ordered the same number and we got it just about right," she said, adding that GPs would also be giving jabs and her nurses would visit housebound people with vaccine.

"It all starts earlier in the year with the drug companies assessing which flu strains will be heading this way. They then make up a combined vaccine to tackle the three most dangerous strains.

"They usually get it right. We will have the three weeks of clinics and then I will trawl through the records to see that we are not missing any high risk patients so that we can notify them."

She said fears that the jabs could lead to people developing bad colds were nonsense – it was just that the flu and cold seasons coincided and the jabs were harmless.

But the message is that flu itself is far from harmless and it is better to be safe than sorry. It can be a killer.