Flu shots will be offered at sites around the Island next week, as the Department of Health starts its “flu express” service ahead of the winter months.

The service allows people to drive up and get vaccinated while waiting in their cars.

Those wishing to receive the shot should bring along $10 in cash for each one, and make sure that nurses have easy access to their upper arm as an injection site.

Persons over the age of 65 will get the vaccine for free, a Department spokeswoman said.

Flu shots are recommended for anyone above the age of six months, with priority going to the elderly, pregnant women, healthcare workers, adults in contact with children and anyone suffering from chronic medical conditions. Persons under the care of their physician for serious medical conditions should get a prescription in advance, as well as for children under the age of three.

The viral infection influenza tends to peak in January and February in the northern hemisphere, and July and August in the south. The virus shifts the code of proteins on its surface year by year, resulting in new strains — but regular immunisation confers a strong level of immunity.

The current vaccine, composed of the deactivated or dead virus, contains three strains of what are likely to be circulating in the 2014/15 flu season.

It will be available from 10am to 2pm at the following dates and locations:

In St George’s, on Tuesday, vaccines will be given out at Pennos Wharf; in Warwick, on Wednesday, at 70 Middle Road — under the rubber tree at the foot of Khyber Pass; in Sandys, on Thursday, at the St James Church Hall parking lot, and in Hamilton, on Saturday, at the Hamilton Health Centre car park at 67 Victoria Street.