New Hanover County to provide 1,000 free flu vaccines on October 12

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC – New Hanover County Public Health, in collaboration with community partners, will offer a free flu vaccination event on Saturday, October 12, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or until the vaccine runs out. This event will take place in downtown Wilmington in the Cape Fear Community College student parking lot between Hanover and Brunswick streets, beside the Schwartz Center.

During this event, New Hanover County will also be practicing its plans to rapidly dispense vaccines to the public in the event of a public health emergency.

“By using our Point of Dispensing Plan to actually run a real drive through vaccination clinic, we will be able to test our plans on a level that is hard to accomplish through a role playing exercise,” said New Hanover County Public Health Preparedness Coordinator Lisa Brown. “The added benefit is that we can better prepare our community for flu season.”

A Point of Dispensing Plan is a best practice model designed to provide medications, vaccines or medical supplies to a large community during a health emergency. During the Point of Dispensing exercise, 1,000 flu shots will be administered.

The flu (influenza) is a contagious respiratory virus that can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. Those at risk for serious flu complications include older people, young children and people with certain health conditions or a compromised immune system. Getting vaccinated helps prevent getting the flu and protects others from getting the flu.

How to Participate

Anyone in the community can get a free flu vaccine and participate in this exercise by coming to the parking lot next to the Schwartz Center on Saturday, October 12 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., or until the vaccine runs out.

Attendees should wear short sleeved shirts, or be able to roll up long sleeves to their shoulder. There will be a walk-up and a drive-through option to receive a flu shot:

Walk-up option: To walk-up, participants should park nearby and visit the tent that will be located at the corner of 2 nd and Brunswick Streets to receive their vaccine.

Drive-through option: Participants will be directed to enter from Hanover Street, and will need to follow the directions of staff and volunteers carefully. The layout and traffic flow for the event can be viewed here. Cars will be greeted and directed to a lane depending on the number of people in the vehicle. Multiple people per vehicle is encouraged. It will not be necessary to get out of the car to receive the flu vaccine.



The flu vaccination event and exercise is a result of preparedness planning that local public health is charged with providing for the community, and made possible through partnership with International Medical Corps and New Hanover Regional Medical Center, who coordinated the donation of 1,000 vaccinations. The planning team has met over a six-month period to prepare the Point of Dispensing Plan exercise and includes New Hanover County Public Health, New Hanover County Emergency Management, New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, International Medical Corps, New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Cape Fear Community College, North Carolina Preparedness and Response and Southeastern NC Healthcare Preparedness Region.

For more information about emergency preparedness and planning, visit ReadyNHC.com.

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Release Contact

Kate Oelslager

910-798-7422

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