DEERFIELD, Ill. — Continuing its successful program, Walgreen Co. is offering more than $10 million of free flu shot vouchers to people who lack health insurance coverage and cannot afford a flu shot on their own.
Walgreens said Friday that for the program, now in its fifth straight year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is again assisting in distributing the more than 400,000 vouchers to help raise flu vaccination rates nationwide.
Each voucher is good for one flu shot at any Walgreens pharmacy in the United States and Puerto Rico, as well as at Duane Reade pharmacies in metropolitan New York and at Healthcare Clinics inside Walgreens drug stores.
"Our ongoing collaboration with HHS has enabled Walgreens to provide free access to flu vaccine to people in need while improving immunization rates in underserved communities across the U.S.," Kermit Crawford, president, pharmacy health and wellness at Walgreens, said in a statement. "This program is one of the ways in which we’re responding to the needs of the communities we serve and also helping to address the access challenges of our health care system. Following another severe flu season, we aim to help more people get, stay and live well throughout the season with the help of the voucher program."
J. Nadine Gracia, M.D., deputy assistant secretary for minority health and director of the HHS Office of Minority Health, received her seasonal flu shot from a Walgreens pharmacists on Friday while promoting the flu vaccine voucher program at the Mid-Maryland Mission of Mercy and Health Equity Festival in College Park, Md.
"Since 2010, more than half a million individuals have received free flu shots and vouchers through this innovative partnership," Gracia stated. "In the face of persistent disparities in influenza vaccination coverage, especially among adults, this initiative reflects our ongoing commitment to expanding access to important preventive services for our most vulnerable and underserved communities."
