Fly-by flu shot
No need to get out of the car - vaccination is available at hospital's drive-through
NORWOOD - First, Kathy Loughlin glided up to the drive-through window at her neighborhood Dunkin' Donuts, where she ordered a tumbler of iced coffee (cream, no sugar).
Then, she guided her white Ford Escape to the front of the queue at the drive-through flu-shot clinic at her neighborhood hospital, Caritas Norwood.
Yes, a drive-through flu-shot clinic.
"So why did I come here? It's easy," said Loughlin, who spent more than two decades teaching high school in Belmont. "It makes sense, and you don't tie up the general practitioners - they're already so overwhelmed."
Forget Fast Food America. Try Drive-Through America. With a bumper crop of flu vaccine expected this year - more than 140 million doses - and the clock ticking to get it into people before influenza strikes, disease fighters are no longer content to rely on doctors to dispense shots in their offices.
So there's vaccine at schools and, come election day, vaccine at the polls and, at spots across the country, vaccine jabbed into the bare arms of drivers and passengers as they sit in their sedans, vans, and trucks.
"For some things, drive-ins are an absolute match made in heaven," said Robert J. Thompson, a professor of pop culture at Syracuse University. "The drive-in fast-food operation was a perfect match. Drive-through surgery? No. Drive-through flu shots? Yes."
Caritas Norwood is believed to be the first hospital in Massachusetts to station needle-wielding nurses at the curb, joining medical centers and health departments stretching from Seattle to rural Virginia. Last year was the first flu season that drive-through vaccinations were offered at the hospital, nestled in a picture postcard town center festooned with fluttering fall leaves.
Nearly 200 shots were given then. Last week, 166 were administered, at $20 a shot, except for patients covered by Medicare. And by 7 last night, about 250 had been dispensed.
"It especially appeals to elderly folks and folks who have trouble getting out of the car," said Wanda Carey, infection control manager at the community hospital south of Boston, "and also to mothers and fathers with kids in car seats."
Welcome to Kathy Gordon's world.
She knew she needed a flu shot, but having a 7-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter in tow can make that a daunting proposition. So she strapped them into her
"I was asking someone on the phone today, should I ask for fries with that?" Gordon said, laughing, as a nurse dabbed at blood dribbling from where she received the shot. "It's a great way for me to not have to clog up the waiting room."
Since a severe shortage of flu shots developed in 2004, public health authorities have managed to persuade more drug companies to get into the vaccine business. As a result, there's more available - shots as well as a version spritzed up the nose - than ever before.
And federal disease specialists have significantly expanded their guidelines about who should receive vaccine, most notably, virtually all children.
"It's a very big burden on the healthcare system if all of these additional visits happen in the healthcare home," such as the pediatrician's office, said Dr. Jeanne Santoli, an immunization specialist at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This explains the creation of Vote & Vax, which will post nurses at polling stations next week. The Somerville Health Department, for example, hopes to bring 500 doses to Somerville High School from about 4:30 to 7 p.m. next Tuesday.
They will be voting and vaccinating in New Hampshire, too. "We're bipartisan," said Pat Wentworth, executive director of the Newfound Area Nursing Association, in Bristol, N.H. "We just want to make sure people get vaccinated."
There's no reason getting a shot at a voting station or a hospital driveway should be any less safe than in an exam room, said Dr. Susan Lett, an immunization specialist at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. "I'm pretty much in favor of vaccinating any place where you can do it safely," Lett said.
At Caritas Norwood, arms were dabbed with alcohol before shots were given, and healthcare workers compulsively cleaned their hands. Before the first shot was given at 3:03 p.m., eight vehicles had lined up.
Once drivers reached the front of the line, it took little more than a minute to get a shot - less time than it can take to get your Big Mac.
Stephen Smith can be reached at stsmith@globe.com. 