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Health officials are setting up the clinic at Orchard Center Mall off Cherry Hill Road in Silver Spring early Wednesday morning. It will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., and no appointment is necessary. Drivers can just drive up, fill out some forms, pay the $27 fee and get their flu shots without ever getting out of their cars.
Adina Madden was one Montgomery County resident taking advantage of the drive-through. "It's easy," she said. "Less than two minutes I was sitting in my car, and that's great... usually I'm waiting for an appointment to get to the doctor, and they're always running out, so this is extremely convenient."
"This way you just drive in and drive out," says another flu shot patient, Genny True.
The first drive-through flu shot clinic opened in Massachusetts last year and has been brought back for a second year due to high demand. Montgomery County has followed suit; the second clinic opens today, and officials expect to give 500 flu shots at each of two drive-through clinics in the county.
The drive-through clinics especially cater to parents with kids in car seats and to elderly people who may have trouble getting out of their cars.
Health officials say the drive thru clinic is also a drill to make sure the county is prepared in the event of a real flu pandemic. "If we did have to do this for real," says Cindy Edwards from the Montgomery County Department of Health, "we kind of know where we need to have more stuff, less stuff, the kind of stuff that we need, the kind of flow that we need, and to make sure we're better prepared if we have an emergency."
Peak flu season will strike in Janurary, and health officials say that the best way to avoid catching it is getting a flu vaccination now. 25 million people get the flu each year in the U.S. The vaccinations are recommended for everyone, but more strongly encouraged for people over 50, pregnant women, and children between 6 months and 18 years old.
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