SPRINGFIELD – Another flu season is around the corner, and that means it will be roll-up-your-sleeve time again soon.

Flu vaccine has already started arriving throughout the state, and flu-shot clinic dates are being set in the local area.

The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District will offer flu shots all day Oct. 6 in Champaign, Rantoul and Tolono, and Oct. 7 on a walk-in basis at the public health building in Champaign, according to public health Administrator Julie Pryde. Specific locations and times will be announced soon, she said.

The Vermilion County Health Department will provide flu vaccine on eight days between Oct. 1 and Oct. 29.

This year, just one flu shot will be needed. It will include the H1N1 strain that required an extra vaccine dose last year, along with two other strains.

There is one exception to one-dose only: Two doses will be needed for children younger than age 9 who haven't been vaccinated for influenza in the past, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The vaccine is recommended for everyone six months and older this year, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. People at highest risk for complications from the flu include young children, pregnant women, people with chronic health conditions and adults age 65 and older.

Pryde said H1N1 is still circulating in India and New Zealand, and people still needed to be protected from it in the U.S., along with the other two strains in this year's vaccine.

About 100 million doses of flu vaccine are used annually in the U.S., and vaccine will be available in Illinois through public health departments, doctor's offices, hospitals and pharmacies, according to state public health officials.

The Vermilion County Health Department has ordered 3,000 vaccine doses and already has them on hand, said department Administrator Shirley Hicks. See the department's website for flu-shot clinic dates and times.

The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District has ordered 1,500 vaccine doses and has received 300 doses of children's vaccine, with the option to order more as needed, Pryde said.

Carle, traditionally the area's largest provider of seasonal flu vaccine, has 43,000 doses on order and will begin flu-shot clinics in October, Carle spokesman Sean Williams said.

For information about this year's flu vaccine, go online.