Sat. Nov 23rd, 2024

Drakos Clinical Laboratories offers free Covid-19 booster shots and flu shots.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – On Tuesday, people received vaccines free of charge thanks to CineMedics, a company that usually provides mobile medical services to homes. Today, it offered free Covid-19 booster shots, flu shots, and metabolic analyses on Route 298 in East Syracuse. 

Drakos Clinical Laboratories in partnership with CineMedics, launched the event. Heather Drake, company founder and paramedic, said the event is aimed at giving healthcare workers a break.  

“When I look around and see how tired my medical colleagues are, I just thought, what can I do to take some of the burden off of them,” said Heather Drake. “Offering vaccines which are really easy to do, is just the first step.” 

Drake woke up at the crack of dawn on Tuesday, knowing she would work all day without making a dime. 

“Yeah, we’re not making any money today, but that’s okay,” said Drake. “Because the right thing to do is to offer a solution for public health.” 

During the event, Drakos Clinical Laboratories and CineMedics introduced a new medical service division, Mobile Integrated Health Services, which is a mobile medical laboratory, according to event organizer Richard Nuzzo. 

Red vaccination truck parked out of CineMedics headquarters.
CineMedics mobil laboratory.

“That large truck is what we would use to do a large event testing,” Nuzzo said. “We have used that in some of the largest film productions in the country.” 

The mobile laboratory has driven from coast to coast, from Boston to Hollywood, according to Nuzzo. The truck is now being used to serve the Central New York community. 

“If you can’t come here for your vaccine today, give us a call, and we will come to your office, your home; we can vaccinate anyone,” said Drake. “If you’re just getting a Covid vaccine, you would only need to pay 40 dollars for us to come.” 

Covid-19 cases are slowly rising again in Central New York, according to Drake.  

“We thought that it might be easy for people to come and get their vaccines now before any of these respiratory illnesses hit their peak,” said Drake.  

Drakos Clinical Laboratories and CineMedics plan on organizing a second Covid-19 booster shot and flu shot clinic this year.