The Adair County Health Department is holding their 18th annual drive-thru flu clinic today - people can simply drive up to the clinic at NEMO Fairgrounds and receive their yearly flu shot.
The shots are free, but those with Medicaid or Medicare cards are asked to bring them, if possible. The health department will have both the regular and high dose vaccines for people ages 3 and up,
Lori Guffey, the assistant administrator at the health department, said she ordered about 800 doses for this year’s clinic. She came up with that estimate by looking at how many shots the team gave at last year’s clinic.
“We look forward to serving the public,” Guffey said. “[And] this enables us to practice. It's a mass dispensing exercise. We've done it for a long, long time. I would say that we're very proud of these exercises because you can never have too much practice in this situation.”
Jim LeBaron, the Adair County Health Department administrator, said the mass vaccination practice staff had from years of drive-thru flu clinics helped a lot during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A lot of health departments that had not ever done drive-thrus,” LeBaron said. “I think all the drive throughs that we have done in the past really paid off for the pandemic, and I'm very proud of our staff and our community members.”
He added that during one vaccination day in 2021, the health department team gave more than 1,500 shots in a day, which “takes coordination.”
As for today’s clinic, Guffey asked that people wear loose fitting clothes to make things a little easier for the staff.
“Everybody wants to gather during the holidays, and during the winter months for all of the ballgames and such, “ Guffey said. “So, it's just a good thing to do for the person sitting next to you if you're vaccinated.”
The clinic runs from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the NEMO Fairgrounds, or as long as doses last.
