BROWN COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) – Brown County Public Health is offering drive-thru flu shots next week.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, public health experts are pushing for people to get a flu shot more now than ever. Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach rolled through for his flu vaccine Wednesday morning.
“It’s really easy. You drive up, they take some information, you answer some questions, you get to the nurse who has the actual vaccine, you get the shot. It’s really simple,” Streckenbach told WTAQ News. “It’s drive up to make it available to the public. It’s designed to be outside so that we can try to keep everybody safe. And most importantly, we’re really trying to encourage the public to get their flu shots.”
Streckenbach also suggested wearing a short-sleeved shirt to make things easier for the nurses who are administering the shot. It allows nurses to provide the vaccine and get patients out as quickly as possible.
The flu vaccine clinics are something the county offers every year, as part of the mission of the Department of Public Health. As the county encourages everyone to get the vaccine, they’re changing things up to provide it in a safe manner amid the pandemic.
“We didn’t want to do exactly what we’re asking people not to do, and that is bringing people together unnecessarily,” said Brown County Public Health Officer Anna Destree. “We wanted to try and figure out the safest way that we could still bring people in to get the flu vaccine, because we recognize that it’s a very important strategy to protect [against] the flu this year.”
Destree issued a reminder that the flu itself can be a potentially dangerous and deadly illness, and that people experience serious complications from the virus every year.
“When you add COVID on top of that, it’s even more important that we focus on what we can control,” Destree explained. “Get the flu vaccine and do our other measures – the staying home when sick, washing hands often, and all those other measures that we’ve been talking about are so critical.”
Beyond the new drive-thru option being quick and helpful for some, Destree believes the concept could go beyond administering the flu vaccine in the future.
“This was unique due to COVID that we did try this out. If it works, it’s going to be kind of like a pilot. If this works, this is something we may do when the COVID vaccine becomes available,” Destree said.
Drive-thru clinics will be held Thursday, October 22nd from 4-6pm at Edison Middle School and Saturday October 24th from 10am-1pm at Green Bay West High School. Those times are dependent on vaccine availability.
For more information about immunizations in Brown County, head to the Brown County Public Health website.
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