Flu-shot clinic draws larger-than-usual crowd Sunday: The clinic 1,400 people Sunday, according to one of its organizers.

Seasonal-flu-shot shortages at doctors' offices and workplaces and heightened health concerns brought a higher-than-normal number of people to a flu- and pneumonia-shot clinic Sunday.

The annual event drew 1,400 people Sunday, 500 more than last year, said Jenny Nace, information specialist for the York County Area Agency on Aging, which coordinated Sunday's clinic alongside the York/Adams Immunization Coalition, the York City Bureau of Health, the American Red Cross, WellSpan Health and Rabbittransit.

People lined up outside the York Expo Center for shots as early as 8 a.m., two hours before the event's scheduled start time, Nace said. People with most Medicare Advantage plans got the shots for free, while people not eligible under

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insurance paid $25 for the flu shot and $46 for the pneumonia shot, according to Rabbittransit.

"People are very concerned about their health this year and want to protect (themselves)," Nace said.

Organizers offered flu shots to people 9 years and older, Nace said, setting up a drive-through at the expo center that allowed people to get a shot, a lollipop and a sticker without getting out of their cars.

Many attendees liked the clinic's convenience.

"You don't have to stand," said Beverly Ness, of Windsor. "We've got bad legs," Ness added, pointing to her passenger, Shelva Smith of Yorkana.

A shortage of flu shots at doctors' offices brought folks such as Betty Mosebrook, of Manchester Township, who said her doctor expected to be out of flu shots for at least three weeks.

Rabbittransit sent a bus around the city Sunday to take people to the clinic, where they could get their shots without having to leave the bus.

The bus made three laps around the city, picking up a total of three people throughout the day, said Karen O'Connor, volunteer coordinator for the Agency on Aging.

The last bus carried one passenger, Maria Martinez, of York, whose eagerness to get the shot outweighed any loneliness she might have felt on the ride to the clinic.

"It's the safe thing to do," Martinez said of getting the flu shot. "I gotta protect myself."

khoran@ydr.com; 771-2029

If you go

Future seasonal-flu-shot clinics:

--9 to 11 a.m. Wednesday, Delta Senior Center, 5 Pendyrus St., Delta.

--9 to 11 a.m. Friday, drive-thru clinic at St. John Lutheran Church, 175 E. Main St., New Freedom.

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