PLEASANTON, Calif. — To encourage customers to get a flu vaccination, Safeway Inc. is offering a 10% off coupon for an entire shopping trip for those who get inoculated.
The food and drug chain said Monday that it’s providing traditional seasonal flu and Fluzone High-Dose vaccines at all of its 1,200 pharmacies on a walk-in basis. The high-dose vaccination is for people age 65 and older.
Select Safeway pharmacy locations also are offering the new Quadrivalent FluMist intranasal vaccine, which is suitable for patients ages 5 through 49.
The supermarket retailer, which has more than 1,400 stores overall, noted that it aims to inspire customers to take an important step to protect against an illness that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), affects 5% to 20% of the U.S. population each year.
Immunizations are administered by Safeway pharmacists, who altogether have given more than 5 million vaccines over the past decade, the company said.
"We have always made the process of getting a flu vaccine affordable and convenient. Now we’re giving an extra incentive to protect against a very common, very infectious illness," Darren Singer, senior vice president of pharmacy at Safeway, said in a statement. "We especially want to protect those most at risk. For seniors, the Fluzone HD offers a better immune response and better protection against flu."
