Busy? Get Your Drive-Thru Flu Shot

A Massachusetts hospital has a novel way to administer influenza vaccinations: the drive-through. Caritas Norwood, south of Boston, has nurses on hand to administer the shot in a designated areas of the hospital’s driveway, the Boston Globe reports. Some 250 people, at $20 a pop, have received the vaccine already this year. “It makes sense, and you don't tie up the general practitioners,” one car-bound patient said.

The car-side treatment appeals to “folks who have trouble getting out of the car,” a hospital official said, “and also to mothers and fathers with kids in car seats.” It takes about a minute. Caritas’ program is in line with many across the nation administering what's expected to be a record number of shots in schools and at polling places. Giving shots exclusively in hospitals and doctors' offices is “a very big burden on the health care system,” a CDC official said. (More flu stories.)