Iowans can take care of two important tasks with one stop on this Election Day. Cheryl Matheis, a spokeswoman for AARP in Iowa, says the organization is again taking part in the "Vote and Vax" program. Matheis says it lets people who are voting get a flu vaccination at the same time.
Matheis says, "We’ve done it for three election cycles and this time we’re up to about 200 sites around the country that will actually have flu shot clinics right adjacent to the polling place." Matheis says it’s tough for some elderly residents to get out, so this will make for one-stop shopping. She says if there isn’t a Vote and Vax program location at your polling place, there’s likely one close by.
"Even if you don’t have a flu clinic near your polling place, there’s probably a flu clinic near your home," she says. "We have an easy way for people to find out where they are. Go on AARP-dot-org-slash-flu, type in your address and it will pull up all the places within your vicinity that offer flu shots." Matheis says it’s important that everyone, especially the elderly, get vaccinated for the flu.
She says: "About one in five persons, that’s 20% of our population, gets the flu every year and 200,000 of those people go to the hospital at a cost of about ten-thousand dollars each. Thirty-six-thousand of those people actually die from it so it’s very important to take this simple action that will protect you from this real killer disease." There are several Vote and Vax locations in Iowa, including: Waterloo, Mount Vernon, Orange City, Wapello, North Liberty, Cedar Rapids and Davenport.