In a small room just off the sanctuary at Trinity Baptist Church on St. Clair Avenue several people are receiving a flu shot. 65-year-old Yvonne Horton-Justice of Reynoldsburg is waiting to get hers. She says she gets a flu shot every year and it has helped her stay healthy.
"I think it's a preventive and the flu is getting worse and worse and I want to make sure if I get it it's very light and doesn't cost me any time from work," she said.
Horton-Justice says she finds it difficult to get males in her family immunized.
"The men in my family, it is hard to get them in. They just don't believe they'll get it until they get sick. And then you have to mother them so that's why I always tell the men 'Go get your shot'," she said.
Kathy Papp is the director of wellness services for Lifecare Alliance a non-profit organization administering flu shots throughout the city. She says they try to offer the immunization in more comfortable settings like a church to make the shot more approachable, especially for men.
"We are always trying to improve our immunization rates both locally, statewide and nationally, and the two groups we find it hardest to reach are African American males and Caucasian males," she said.
Darrell Jones says he gets his shot every year from the advice of another male in his life.
"My dad's the one that pushes me to get every year. He sets it up for me to get it every year," he said.
Lifecare Alliance will offer flu shots throughout the city until the end of November.