Still on the fence about getting a flu vaccine? These stores may pay you to get a shot

Howard Cohen

As flu activity ticks up in Florida and vaccination fatigue seems to have settled in with a big menu of shots — for COVID, monkeypox, shingles — some merchants are offering incentives to get you to roll up your sleeve.

Pharmacies at grocers and retailers including Publix, Winn-Dixie, Walgreens, CVS and Walmart are offering coupons for discounts on future purchases and free groceries if you take a flu shot this season. Think of it as getting paid to protect yourself.

At Publix

Publix has started to give coupons for $5 off purchases of $50 or more, or $10 off purchases of $100 or more valid on grocery purchases for pharmacy customers that receive a flu vaccine at its stores, a Florida spokeswoman said on Nov. 1, 2022.
Publix has started to give coupons for $5 off purchases of $50 or more, or $10 off purchases of $100 or more valid on grocery purchases for pharmacy customers that receive a flu vaccine at its stores, a Florida spokeswoman said on Nov. 1, 2022.

“With flu cases on the rise, especially in our operating area and vaccination rates down in the same areas, we began offering a coupon for $5 off your purchase of $50 or more, or $10 off your purchase of $100 or more valid on grocery purchases for our pharmacy customers receiving a flu vaccine,” said Publix spokeswoman Lindsey Willis.

The Publix coupons are good through Nov. 30.

But if you received your flu shot for the season when they started rolling out the offer Oct. 13, you can still get the Publix coupon. Customers should visit the Publix pharmacy where the shot was administered and request the coupon now through Nov. 30. Publix, which is headquartered in Lakeland, will have a record of your most recent shot.

At Winn-Dixie and Fresco y Más

September 2022 is the start of the flu season. Can you get your flu shot and a COVID vaccine, including the new updated Moderna or Pfizer boosters that were released after Labor Day, at the same time? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is OK to get them together. Winn-Dixie offers coupon incentives to get two vaccines at the same time.

Southeastern Grocers, parent company to the Jacksonville-based Winn-Dixie, Fresco y Más and Harveys Supermarket offers up to $20 in free groceries as vaccine incentives in all in-store pharmacies to further encourage customers and their families — ages 3 and older — to get vaccinated ahead of flu season, according to Southeastern spokeswoman Meredith Hurley.

Here’s how to get the offers: Walk in or make an appointment online to get a flu vaccine and you can pick up a voucher for $10 in free groceries. To double that and get another $10 worth of free groceries, take a second vaccine of your choice on the same day.

You can pick from vaccine options such as COVID-19, shingles, pneumonia, meningitis and Tdap and others that may be available. Most can be administered on the same day, but ask your doctor first if you have concerns.

Southeastern Grocers, parent company to the Jacksonville-based Winn-Dixie, offers up to $20 in free groceries as vaccine incentives in all in-store pharmacies to further encourage customers and their families to get the 2022 flu vaccine.
Southeastern Grocers, parent company to the Jacksonville-based Winn-Dixie, offers up to $20 in free groceries as vaccine incentives in all in-store pharmacies to further encourage customers and their families to get the 2022 flu vaccine.

Walgreens

Walgreens is offering a $5 “Walgreens Cash” reward to its members that you can use at your next purchase at the chain for taking your flu shot now through December. You can walk in, use the app or make an appointment online.

The newly updated Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 boosters started to roll out at retail pharmacies in September. This is the vaccine check-in window at a Walgreens at 1601 SW 107th Ave. near Florida International University in Miami-Dade that was offering the updated boosters on Sept. 7, 2022. Walgreens is also offering incentives to people who take the flu shot at its pharmacies.

CVS

CVS is offering a $5 coupon good for purchases of $20 or more after you get your vaccine.

CVS has also started a promotion called #FluShotFlex Sweepstakes in which you can enter for a chance to win gift cards for sports tickets to a college game of your choice (there are rules, of course) and $500 and $100 gift cards you can use at sports retailers if you get your flu shot at CVS and enter.

Why you may consider getting a flu shot

The 2022-23 Influenza Season Week 42 report map ending Oct. 22, 2022, provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the activity level of flu and influenza nationwide. Florida’s activity level was still in the upper part of the low range. But activity is increasing in parts of the state according to the Florida Department of Health.

“It’s quite possible that this year the influenza season is going to be much worse because a lot of people — children and others — were not exposed to influenza last year,” Dr. Mobeen Rathore, professor and associate chair of pediatrics at the University of Florida’s College of Medicine, told the Miami Herald in October.

READ MORE: South Florida seeing more respiratory illness — here’s what to know

While Florida was still on the upper levels of low flu activity so far this season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based on data from late October, flu and influenza illnesses are increasing in most of Florida’s 67 counties, including those in South Florida, according to Florida’s Department of Health.

The Florida Flu Review map in the week of Oct. 23-29, 2022, shows flu and influenza-like illness activity is increasing in most of the state.
The Florida Flu Review map in the week of Oct. 23-29, 2022, shows flu and influenza-like illness activity is increasing in most of the state.

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