Here’s a first for you: Early last month Covenant House staff teamed up with their local Walgreen’s pharmacist to bring flu vaccinations for our senior residents right to their doorsteps! While our staff is no stranger to setting up mobile flu shot clinics on-site, the new health and safety considerations posed by the COVID-19 pandemic required us to get a little creative when it came to devising a plan to safely and efficiently administer the vaccinations our seniors need to be protected. It took a little longer than usual, but after almost six hours of going door-to-door we were able to administer 76 flu shots to some of our highest risk residents (who had pre-registered in advance.)

Our stainless steel food service cart was wiped down with sanitizer wipes and transformed into a mobile flu shot cart! Our Resident Service Coordinators helped with completing the residents’ health insurance info on Walgreens’ form and assisted with translation and gathering health insurance info too. It was a huge effort but we’re glad to deliver such an important service right to residents’ doors to help maintain social distancing. One resident recounted how she normally gets her flu shot at Boston Medical Center, so we saved her at least 3 hours on the T in travel!