Call it the Return of the Roadside Stick.

Port Arthur’s Health Department will provide a one-day offering of a curbside flu shot from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 1, at 449 Austin Ave., right outside department doors. The cost is $10, cash or check.

It’s a reliable and convenient way for adults 18 and older to get flu shots: Just pull up, roll up your sleeve and drive away, protected as possible from the 2018-19 flu season.

Judith Smith, director of health services in Port Arthur, said the Drive Thru Flu Clinic didn’t operate last year and, sadly, the flu season was a harsh one. The program started in 2006 and in its most recent year of operation, 2016, the department provided more than 200 flu shots to customers who pulled up to the curb.

For those who miss the drive-up opportunity, the health department, which orders about 1,200 adult doses, 500 children’s doses, will provide flu shots inside the office from 8-4:30 daily, as long as doses last.

Smith said reports of flu arrived in her office as early as September 2017. Her office is not mandated to report flu cases, but some public agencies and schools report their information to her office anyway. What she heard was alarming.

She said that nationally, 82 children died from flu last flu season; that’s why she urges that people get the flu shot early — flu season usually starts in October, peaks between December and February, yet can last as long as May — to protect themselves and their families. Children and senior citizens can be more likely to catch the flu.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, too, is urging annual flu vaccination for everyone 6 months and older. Appropriate flu vaccines can vary for youngest and older people.

The CDC says flu vaccines have been updated to better match circulating viruses and a nasal flu vaccine is available for certain patients 2-49 years old. The CDC says vaccine options vary and include standard dose shots into the muscle, high-dose shots for people 65 and older.

The CDC warns there are various flu viruses and they constantly change. Smith said even if the virus changes, the flu shot gives at least some protection always.

Smith and the CDC recommend getting shots early — right now would do — in order to give the vaccine the two weeks it needs to become fully effective.

The CDC says it’s not possible to predict the flu season’s severity in any given year. But Texas was hard-hit in 2017-18, with regions oftentimes leading the nation in flu cases. Protect yourself against that.

Avoid sick people. Wash your hands often. If you’re sick, stay home.

And get the shot. It’s as close as the curb.