EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — With vehicles in line, windows rolled down, and sleeves pulled up — dozens of people showed up to get a free flu shot outside State Representative Rosemary Brown's office near East Stroudsburg.
"We came here for our free flu shot," said Amily Hardwick of Saylorsburg. "It was good, painless."
Each fall, the Department of Health reminds Pennsylvanians to get a flu shot.
Rep. Brown partnered with Rite Aid to make this free event happen for residents of Monroe County, especially for senior citizens and those who might not have insurance.
"There is so much focus on health this year with COVID-19, and there is that strong concern. We can't forget, though, that there are other diseases that we need to pay attention to, and the flu is also one of them and especially as you get older or a compromised system, you have a higher risk for influenza and a higher risk of going into secondary infections. So, we wanted to give people the choice that if they would like to get the vaccine to try and minimize their chance of getting it, it just made a lot of sense," said Rep. Rosemary Brown, (R) 189th District.
Rite Aid came equipped with more than 100 flu shots to give out. People who came to get theirs say getting the shot this year was a no brainer.
"I have COPD and a couple of other health issues, so I don't want to catch COVID, and I certainly don't want to catch COVID and flu because that's a lottery no one wants to win," said Joseph Hardwick of Saylorsburg.
According to the Department of Health, anyone older than 6 months should get the flu shot.