The Associated Press reports that the city of Houston "has stopped offering free flu shots at early voting sites after Republicans alleged it was a ploy by the mayor to lure more Democrats to the polls.
The vaccinations, for people 50 and older, had been offered at early voting sites in predominantly black and Hispanic neighborhoods. Health officials said they had singled out medically underserved areas, not Democratic neighborhoods.
“There was no political motive whatsoever to do it,” said Mayor Bill White, the former head of the Texas Democratic Party.
Mr. White said he had ended the program Wednesday, after it had provided 1,300 flu shots over three days, because he did not want “to spend more money in defending a baseless lawsuit than we’re giving away in vaccine or allow anybody to question the integrity of the political process.”
Republicans accused Mr. White of using the program to increase Democrats’ election prospects. ...
A $320,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation financed the “Vote and Vax” flu shot drives in Houston and 24 other American cities, according to the foundation, a health advocacy organization. The 10-year-old program singles out areas where relatively few people get flu shots.
Foundation officials say the program is a convenient way for older people, who are especially vulnerable to the flu, to get vaccinated for a disease that kills 32,000 people over 65 every year. Polls provide access to many people who need the vaccine."
Posted by schwitz at November 6, 2006 07:53 AM | TrackBack