Flu Clinics

Online appointment system for flu shot clinics
Montgomery County health officials urge all residents to get a flu vaccination and announced dates for free clinics. While getting a flu vaccination does not protect against COVID-19, flu shots have been shown to reduce the risk of flu illness, hospitalization, and death. Getting a flu vaccination can also save health care resources for the care of patients with COVID-19.
Seasonal flu vaccinations are available through private health providers, as well as at retail locations throughout the community. County-sponsored seasonal flu vaccination clinics will include free clinics for residents over the age of 14 and two free clinics specifically for children ages six months to 18 years of age. This year there will be one drive-thru flu clinic. The County will offer flu shots only.  High-dose flu vaccine and FluMist will not be available.

Saturday, Nov. 7
8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Dennis Avenue Health Center
2000 Dennis Avenue, Silver Spring

Saturday, Nov. 21
8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Dennis Avenue Health Center
2000 Dennis Avenue, Silver Spring

Appointments for the children’s only clinics can be made on the Maryland Vax website. There will be no walk-ups for these clinics. Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Anyone not wanting to get the flu should receive the seasonal flu vaccination, particularly the elderly, household members living with children younger than six months of age, health care workers and individuals with chronic illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes.

Check the County’s flu website for more information. For the latest Reopening Montgomery updates, visit the County’s website. 


Maryland's COVID-19 mass vaccination plan
Governor Larry Hogan announced the release of the State of Maryland’s draft two-phase COVID-19 mass vaccination plan, which was submitted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week. See the draft plan.
 
Phase 1 will focus on vaccinating priority groups who are at highest risk of developing complications from COVID-19 and those in critical industries:

• frontline first responders and health care workers who evaluate and care for COVID-19 patients;

• staff and residents of nursing homes, long-term care facilities, and assisted living facilities; and

• essential workers, including in public safety, education, and staff in congregate living facilities.

Phase 2 will have wide-scale vaccine availability for the general population. The vaccine supply is expected to rapidly increase once distribution begins, alleviating the need to limit vaccine administration. More.
 
Consumers and restaurants charged large fees by online food-delivery services
Montgomery County’s Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) is alerting consumers and restaurant owners about the confusing and costly fees charged by third-party online food ordering-and-delivery services.
 
Although these companies often advertise free or low delivery fees, the commissions they charge restaurants are far higher, typically totaling 20 to 40 percent or more of each order.  Many patrons are unaware of these high costs.
 
A recent report in Washington Consumers’ Checkbook provided details on the impact the fees have on restaurants and patrons.  The report can be found linked from the OCP website at https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/ocp/ or directly from the Consumers’ Checkbook site at https://tinyurl.com/y6geenfg.
 
Many restaurants, which have turned to delivery companies to compensate for the loss of dine-in revenue, must rely upon companies such as Grubhub, Uber Eats, and DoorDash, which have bought up many of their competitors.  The fees imposed by the major ordering services may result in restaurants losing substantial portions of any revenue these companies might provide.
 
The Consumers’ Checkbook report describes how the big food-ordering services are causing major financial problems for restaurants.  Checkbook reports that even consumers who never use these apps stand to be affected as restaurants raise their menu prices to account for large commissions paid to these websites and apps.
 
The report provides guidance for consumers and restaurant owners.  For example:

• Checkbook created illustrative orders for eight restaurants using a variety of delivery services and found the three largest services—Grubhub, DoorDash, and Uber Eats—took a huge cut of each order.   On average, Checkbook estimates that fees charged by these three companies were 38 percent of total order costs.
• Restaurants may be required to pay extra fees to receive better placement in companies’ search results.
• Consumers wishing to support their favorite restaurants should order directly from the restaurants.  By using a restaurant’s own phone number, website or app, people can ensure their money goes to the eatery.  But Checkbook says to make sure to use the restaurant’s real phone number: Grubhub sets up proxy phone numbers for restaurants so that it can capture its commission even for phone orders.
• If you want to order via an app, ChowNow charges restaurants low fees, compared with the other services Checkbook compared.
• Do not be fooled by cheap or “free” delivery. To tantalize first timers, apps often offer deals.  But those consumer savings often are charged back to the restaurant.

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The holidays bring festive times . . . and scammers
As the holidays approach, the Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) wants consumers to be aware that online shopping, gift cards and charitable solicitations may not be as honest as they appear.

Online shopping: Paying by credit card is the safest way, because it provides extra protections for most online purchases, dispute procedures and benefits for returns or exchanges. Debit cards, even those with Visa or Mastercard logos, don’t.

If shopping on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, Letgo or other third-party marketplaces, be aware that scammers are using stock photos or photos from other real transactions to sell non-existent goods, even rentals.

Beware of fake retail websites selling non-existent goods, many using Shopify as their platform and advertising on social media. These merchants either sell counterfeit goods or have no goods to sell. They may send you empty envelopes for proof of delivery to combat charge-backs or disputes through your bank.

Gift cards. If someone contacts you about unpaid bills and demands payment via a gift or prepaid card, or a wire transfer, that’s a red flag that a scam is afoot. When buying gift cards, make sure the packaging has not been compromised, and don’t buy gift cards that have packaging showing the bar code on the back.

Donations. Before donating to a charity, make sure it’s registered with the Maryland Secretary of State. Then research the organization to make sure it uses the money received for the work and not to hire call centers to get more money.

More in the press release. 
Click here to see the full array. And check out the Montgomery Parks COVID-19 page for information on park facilities that are open and closed under the county's re-opening plan.

Sources: Montgomery County Executive; Montgomery County Dept. of Health and Human Services; Bethesda Chevy-Chase Regional Services; Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection.