On Election Day, elderly voters have the opportunity to get flu shots at three voting locations with the help of the Alachua County Health Department and the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections.
Paul Myers, the assistant director of the health department, said the targeted precincts are aimed at people more than 65 years old who have difficulty getting the shot elsewhere.
Myers said the department wants to make voting and getting the flu shot as convenient as possible for people carrying out their civic duties. The departments are not trying to influence voting patterns in any way but are trying to prevent illness, he said.
The flu shot initiative was launched in 1996 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, but this is the first year in Alachua County, Myers said.
The $20 flu shot will be offered from 9 a.m. to noon Tuesday in precinct 28 at the T.B. McPherson Recreation Center, precinct 30 at the Greater Bethel A.M.E. Church and precinct 63 at the Turkey Creek Golf & Country Club.
Kim Barton, the outreach director for Alachua County Supervisor of Elections, said the program must follow a rule that states it cannot come within 100 feet of voting polls.
