Public health officials are urging Islanders to participate in a free, Islandwide flu clinic that will take place on Saturday, Nov. 7. The free clinic runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

With flu shot supply still limited on the Vineyard, the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital announced on Wednesday that an Islandwide flu clinic would be held on Nov. 7 at the regional high school.

Heightened demand for flu vaccinations and slow distribution statewide are causing a temporary shortage of the vaccine for many Island suppliers.

With growing global concern over the coronavirus, Island health officials are bracing for another historic year for a more familiar virus: the flu.

Flu season is bad this year across the country and Island health care leaders are taking note, with an extra immunization clinic announced this week.

A total of 528 people of all ages received flu vaccines this weekend through the Island boards of health annual flu clinic.

The Martha’s Vineyard Hospital reports a steady flow of people coming into the emergency department with upper respiratory illness. It is not too late to get a flu shot, public health officials said.

His family members and friends got inoculated at their doctors or druggists. But James Paul, 65, got his shot at the West Tisbury school, without so much as leaving his car.

Island boards of health are encouraging Vineyarders to take extra precaution and receive free vaccinations at clinics scheduled for this weekend.

The drive-through clinics are today from 9 a.m. to noon at the West Tisbury School and Waban Park in Oak Bluffs.

A free flu shot clinic hosted last Sunday by the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, Vineyard Nursing Association and Island boards of health was called a success by town officials and health care workers.

“We will be less sick as a little population because of this effort, and I wanted to commend the collaboration,” Cynthia Mitchell, West Tisbury selectman and executive at Island Health Clinic, said at the town selectmen’s meeting this week.