SHORELINE, Wash. — With Autumn here, healthcare officials are pushing people to get vaccinated for the flu, alongside COVID-19. On Saturday, QFC hosted a pop-up clinic in Shoreline to offer both the flu shot, and COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots.
For months the question at most vaccine clinics was usually Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson? Saturday at this Shoreline Clinic it was flu shot, COVID-19 vaccine or both?
“Got my flu in my left and my COVID [vaccine] in my right because I was not yet vaccinated for flu,” Jon Grim said. Jon Grim took the double shot, he works in the health care field with patients who have cancer.
“I feel it's important to be vaccinated to protect myself and my patients. Probably my patients more than myself,” Grim said.
Grim was not the only one who came to the clinic for their Pfizer booster.
Just one day after they expanded the use of booster shots, Thomas Griggs says he came when he realized he was now eligible.
“I believe the science, I want to protect my family and the public. I'm not too worried about myself, I want to make sure other people I care about are safe,” Griggs said.
Griggs plans to look into getting a flu shot and pharmacists say they're pushing people to act quickly. They’re concerned this flu season will be worse than last year and tough on an already strained health care system.
“We want to avoid that situation, that “twindemic,” where our healthcare providers are trying to deal with COVID cases as well as influenza cases,” Pharmacy Manager Yushi Li said.
Whatever shot you might need, pharmacists suggest people act soon. With COVID-19 vaccine approval for children on the horizon, these clinics could get even busier in the coming months.
“Potentially by November we might doing kids for Pfizer as young as 5, I think that will continue to keep the pharmacies pretty busy,” Li explained.
They suggest anyone who needs a copy of their vaccine record for their booster go to MyIRmobile.com to get a printout.