Getting the flu shot is still the best defence as the peak of flu season loom, Quebec’s chief of public health says.

This year, the dominant strain of the flu is H1N1 – the strain that caused a pandemic in 2009, killing hundreds of Canadians.

Though many can be wary of taking a flu shot because of perceived concerns like side effects, or they don’t believe the flu is serious enough to warrant a vaccine, Dr. Danielle Auger, head of Quebec Public Heath Protection, said those who don’t believe in the flu shot have simply never experienced the flu.

Many members of the public who dismiss flu shots don't understand the disease, and get it confused with the common cold.

“They say that because they haven’t gotten the flu yet. Because when you get, the flu, you're very, very sick,” said Auger. “You have a headache, muscle pain, you have high fever and you're really not in shape for a couple of days,” she said.

This season the flu has killed ten people in Alberta, and put 300 people in hospital -- 40 of them in an intensive care unit.

More deaths have ben reported in the U.S. and Ontario, but officials cannot predict the severity of this season’s flu in Quebec. To date 40 cases have been reported in the Eastern Townships.

“On average there are thousands of cases and there's around 300 deaths,” said Auger.

This year's flu shot is a cocktail with protection against H1N1, H3N2 and Influenza B.

Health officials say the elderly, the very young, pregnant women and those with chronic illnesses should definitely get the flu shot, but everyone can benefit

In NDG, CLSC Benny Farm distributed flu vaccines to 700 people a day over three days, and the new clinic may hold another vaccination blitz.

“We know that the more we have people vaccinated, the better people are protected,” said Julie Boutin of the CLSC Benny Farm.

Montrealer Maida Haltrecht said she learned about the dangers of the flu the hard way—by getting influenza—and so she was vaccinated in November.

“I feel that it keeps me from getting the flu. One year I didn't get (the shot) and then in 2011 I was sick for a month with the flu,” she said.