Seniors Get Free Flu Shots at Community Center

Flu season is quickly approaching and many local residents took an opportunity to get their flu shot at the Potomac Community Center on Tuesday. 

From 10 a.m. until noon, flu shots were free for people over the age of 60 with Medicaid Part B, said Paul Aboyoun, a Montgomery General Hospital nurse who gave the shots. The shots cost $30 for everyone else, Aboyoun added.

A steady stream of people lined up to get their flu shots in the morning, including 86-year-old Pat Macdonald, who got her first flu shot in her life.

"I heard this year it is going to be a bad situation with the flu," Macdonald said. "I haven't gotten it yet because I have a good immune system, but this year I think it's important."

Susan Shewchuk said she gets the flu shot every year, but this is the first time she decided to get it at the Potomac Community Center.

"It is important to have [the shot] every year," Shewchuk said. "I read about it on the web page and it is convenient because I already use the center for classes and other things."

Geeta Kapadia wasn't even planning on getting the flu shot at the community center, but when she left her senior exercise classes at the center, she saw the opportunity, she said.

"I get the shot every year," Kapadia said. "Sometimes I go to the drugstore and get it, but I was here taking a class and I saw it and decided I should do it."

If you missed the shots at the Potomac Community Center, flu shots will be given at the Clara Barton Community Center in Cabin John on Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Also, several Montgomery County clinics are offering free flu shots by appointment only.