Asda is offering free drive-in flu jabs in Gosport - here's how to get one

The service will launch today and will be available at 13 of the supermarket’s stores including the one in Dock Road, Gosport and will be administered in the car parks.

Drive-through flu jabs will be offered free to anyone who is eligible for a free NHS flu jab such as elderly people, pregnant women, those with underlying health conditions, and also frontline health care workers – including those who work in places such as care homes or nursing homes, as well as home carers.

Asda has said that the service has been launched due to the fact that those who most urgently need to get flu jabs are also likely to be most vulnerable to Covid-19.

Drive-through jabs therefore offer a way of getting vaccinated against flu without coming into contact with other people (other than the pharmacist administering the jab) or visiting medical premises.

Newly-released research from Asda Pharmacy has shown that over a quarter of UK adults (28 per cent) say they are currently putting off getting a flu jab over concerns about visiting GPs and pharmacies as they fear coming into contact with someone who is suffering from Covid-19.

Maq Din, lead pharmacist at Asda Pharmacy said: ‘The sad truth is that there is an increased mortality risk if you catch Covid-19 when you already have the flu. As a result some of our most vulnerable members of society are at twice the risk compared to others, which is why we are encouraging everyone to get a flu jab this year; it is more vital now than ever!

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‘We are putting a number of measures in place at our drive-through flu jab centres, so patients can be assured that it is safe to visit – and they won’t even need to leave their car to get a jab. Contact time will be kept to a minimum in order to allow pharmacists to be as efficient as possible.’

Asda Pharmacy has made the process for obtaining a flu jab as straightforward as possible – patients just need to visit Asda store locator here, find their nearest centre by entering their postcode and book an appointment, either by phone, or directly with the store.

Once booked and an appointment time has been given, they then simply need to pull up their vehicle into a vaccination station bay.

Patients will remain in the vehicle whilst the vaccination is administered by a pharmacist through the vehicle’s window.

Drivers will be injected into their right arm, whilst passengers will receive the jab in their left.

The pharmacist will also advise patients of potential side-effects and they will be asked to wait for five to 10 minutes in a designated parking bay to ensure they feel comfortable to drive away.

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