--- title: Drive-By Flu Shots description: More hospitals are offering curbside vaccinations. Sure, it's convenient, but is it safe? canonical: https://time.com/archive/6686962/drive-by-flu-shots/ author: Laura Fitzpatrick article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2008-11-13T05:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-27T10:46:25.665Z article:section: Health og:title: Drive-By Flu Shots og:description: More hospitals are offering curbside vaccinations. Sure, it's convenient, but is it safe? og:url: https://time.com/archive/6686962/drive-by-flu-shots/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ad667e946b2fe23/698a472786f68e1a476f380e/360_lflushots_1124.jpg?branch=production&width=360&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 360 og:image:height: 203 og:image:alt: 360_lflushots_1124.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Drive-By Flu Shots twitter:description: More hospitals are offering curbside vaccinations. Sure, it's convenient, but is it safe? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ad667e946b2fe23/698a472786f68e1a476f380e/360_lflushots_1124.jpg?branch=production&width=360&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) # Drive-By Flu Shots > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=6497bcad-72bb-4be6-86f0-6f1613cc1def&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [Laura Fitzpatrick](https://time.com/author/laura-fitzpatrick/) Nov 13, 2008 5:00 AM UTC  David L. Ryan / Boston Globe / Landov by [Laura Fitzpatrick](https://time.com/author/laura-fitzpatrick/) Nov 13, 2008 5:00 AM UTC In Las Vegas, you can get cash, booze, even a wedding license at a drive-through, so why not a flu shot? With a record 140 million flu vaccinations expected to be administered this year in the U.S., hospitals and health clinics from Norwood, Mass., to Randolph County, Ala., have started offering drive-by shootings, using concern about the regular old flu to help prep for outbreaks of potentially far graver diseases like avian flu and anthrax. The curbside care is simple: you pull up, read about the risks and sign a consent form, then bare your bicep and get a shot–all without leaving the driver’s seat. In October in Lynchburg, Va., the Central Virginia Health District’s first drive-by clinic served 300 patients in 3 1/2 hours. That’s less than 45 seconds per vaccination (and no time cooped up in a room with possible germ spreaders). But critics say that the process is dangerous and that the last place you want to be if something goes wrong is speeding down the highway. It takes time to hash out the risk factors associated with flu shots, such as being allergic to eggs or already having a fever when you get vaccinated. “Vaccines are not innocuous,” says Barbara Loe Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center, a consumer-led nonprofit in Vienna, Va. “We don’t support a drive-by as if you’re ordering a bottle of spring water.” Still, Dr. Kerry Gateley, Central Virginia’s health director, says doctors’ offices dole out the shots almost as quickly. The biggest risk, he adds, may be that some drivers get woozy after the shot. “If anybody was looking a little pale,” he says, “we had a place for them to pull over.” Reclining seat backs optional. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6686962/drive-by-flu-shots/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6686962/drive-by-flu-shots/"},"headline":"Drive-By Flu Shots","datePublished":"2008-11-13T05:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-27T10:46:25.665Z","description":"More hospitals are offering curbside vaccinations. 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