Nurses are getting ready for the mammoth task of vaccinating 140,000 Oxfordshire residents against flu.
Stocks of the vaccine have now arrived in the county, ready for the inoculation campaign against the potential killer.
Pensioners and other high-risk groups, such as people with chronic respiratory disease, heart disease, renal failure or diabetes, are being urged to contact their GPs for appointments.
County immunisation co-ordinator Judith Moreton said: "Even in years when little influenza is circulating, 4,000 to 6,000 deaths occur nationally each winter, mainly in the elderly. They are preventable by a simple visit to a GP."
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