Vote and get a flu shot

If you vote early in Columbus, Georgia, you can get a flu shot as well this fall, according to this Ledger-Enquirer story:

At four polling sites during advance voting week, Oct. 27-31, those casting ballots in Columbus can get a vaccine to protect them through the flu season.

The flu shot costs $23, which can be paid through cash, check, Medicare, a Medicare supplement or Medicaid, said Pam Fair of the Columbus health department.

This “Vote & Vax” program is aimed primarily at older folks, who are among those most at risk of being severely affected by a flu infection. They also tend to be the most faithful voters, rarely missing a presidential election. So this initiative offers them the chance to get a flu shot when they go to vote — if they vote early.

But Vote & Vax doesn’t mean nurses with needles will be walking down the line of voters and jabbing them on the way to the touch-screen voting machine. The clinic will be in a separate area at each poll.

To get the shot, voters need an ID (which they’ll also need for voting) and their Medicare or Medicaid card, if they are using that method of payment.