Protection from three strains of influenza is to be provided free — on a first-come, first-served basis or until 5 p.m. — at a community resource fair to be held from 3 to 5:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, in the gymnasium of Santa Lucia Middle School, 2850 Schoolhouse Lane. The immunizations are to include free FluMist (for patients ages 2 through 49) and vaccines for the 2012-2013 flu season.

The school’s Fun Fair Celebration is to entertain while helping promote health and wellness for students, their families and community members. The event is to include food, door prizes, fun activities and information about local resources.

At press deadline, according to Tanya Brown, Coast Unified School District nurse, among fair participants were to be: Cal Fresh (to qualify families for food stamps), Community Health Center mobile bus, American Cancer Society, The LINK, Catholic Charities, San Luis Obispo Child Abuse Prevention Council (providing child identification cards), Planned Parenthood, Club Live and Friday Night Live (games for all) and the YMCA bounce house and games.

Fair sponsors include the school district, Lions Club of Cambria, Cookie Crock Market, Transitions Mental Health Association, Central Coast Link, and some San Luis Obispo County departments, including Public Health and Drug and Alcohol Services.

Elsewhere in town, flu shots are available daily without appointment, from Cambria Drug & Gift, 2222 Main St. ($25, or free with Medicare coverage). Physicians Robert Gong and David McBride (Community Health Centers) have shots available for their patients, by appointment.

In a related matter, Community Action Partnership (CAP) won’t offer senior health-screening sessions on Nov. 12, which is Veteran’s Day, a federal holiday. CAP’s next health session in Cambria for people age 50 and older is to be from 9:30 a.m. to noon Monday, Dec. 10, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 2700 Eton Road. Included are blood pressure, pulse and weight checks and a finger-prick blood test for anemia, diabetes and high cholesterol. No appointment is necessary.

The Centers for Disease Control recommends that everyone ages 6 months or older get a flu shot, especially those with diabetes, asthma, chronic lung disease (and their caregivers, and other household members), along with those who are pregnant or age 65 or older.