Where to Get a Flu Shot in Boerum Hill

When flu shots start here

NYC Health puts the timing plainly: get a flu vaccine in September or October each year. That is the window, and October is not late.

Vaccination carries on past October too, for as long as flu is going around the city, sometimes into the spring. Nobody is shut out in November.

The yearly recommendation covers everyone 6 months and older.

Walk-in or appointment?

A flu shot at a New York pharmacy is a short counter visit. Whether a given pharmacy can take you as a walk-in on a given afternoon depends on who is staffing the counter that hour, so the honest answer is to call first and ask.

One New York rule decides where you can go at all. A pharmacist here needs a separate state certification to immunize, and for flu that certification covers patients from age 2 up. A child under 2 goes to a pediatrician instead.

Wear a sleeve that pushes up easily.

What to bring

Bring the card, not the plan name from memory.

New York also asks the pharmacist to report the vaccination to the state or city immunization registry within 14 days. For anyone 19 and older that reporting needs your consent, so you will be asked at the counter.

• Your insurance card, and your Medicare card if you have one
• Photo ID
• A list of the medications you take
• The name of your doctor

Who pays

Most health plans cover flu vaccination with no copay when the pharmacy is in your plan's network. That last clause is the part that catches people, so hand us the card and ask us to check it before the shot rather than after.

For people on Medicare, a flu shot bills to Part B, not to the drug side of the plan. Vaccines are also part of New York Medicaid's pharmacy benefit. Bring whichever card applies and we will check what your plan pays.

If you have no insurance, call and tell us so. NYC Health also keeps a map of low and no cost vaccination sites across the city.

Getting a flu shot at Tribeca Pharmacy

We are at 177 Smith St in Boerum Hill, between Warren St and Wyckoff St. The pharmacy counter is open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and is closed Saturday and Sunday. The boutique keeps longer hours, but the counter is where a vaccine happens, so plan a weekday.

Call (212) 328-4111 and ask what we have on hand and whether you can come straight in. Adam Wahab, RPh, supervises the counter. There is more on /services/vaccines.

If you would rather have your prescriptions filled a few blocks from home too, /transfer-prescription moves them over, and /refill handles the rest.