Flushing Swaminarayan Mandir holds flu vaccination drive

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Flushing Swaminarayan Mandir and BAPS Charities organized a Flu Education and Vaccination Drive on Sundays between November 24 and December 1, 2024 at their premises.

Close to 100 vaccines were given free to community members in its Flushing neighborhood, including a few Chinese female members in the community.

Flushing Mandir has been giving free vaccines to community members for the past 8 years, according to Dr. Vipul Patel, Coordinator of the Outreach Committee. Patel is an Oncologist by profession and works at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and University, Brooklyn, New York.

Being a doctor himself, Patel leads organizing the vaccine and other medical services at the temple. However, it is still a long drawn out process for him, he said.

Since it is charity work, he has to first procure free vaccines from a vendor or a hospital pharmacy, he said. If unsuccessful, he requests donations from any pharmacy or practicing physician.

Patel said there are a number of items which are required for such a drive, including a refrigerator to store the vaccines.

“Then, I need needles, syringes, alcohol swabs, sharps containers, and more. And, for emergencies, I need a First Aid Box, a blood pressure monitor, Benadryl, Tylenol, and Epipen,” Patel said.

More importantly, the vaccine drive requires volunteers including doctors, nurses, physician’s assistants, and pharmacists. These help give vaccines, and fill out the vaccination forms, he said.

“Since I work in the hospital, I ask everyone to help. The nurses help with giving the vaccines and the pharmacists help with filling out the forms,” Patel said.

This year, the Immigrant Outreach Unit of NYPD’s Community Outreach Division participated in the Vaccine drive and provided bilingual support and assistance.

Flu vaccines are generally given at local pharmacies and doctor’s offices. But many elderly people are not able to get to a local pharmacy or a physician’s office. They also face language problems, Patel said. “When we give these vaccines at the temple, they are in a familiar place, with people who speak their language, and feel comfortable that they will be taken care of,” Patel said.

Flushing Swaminarayan Mandir has been trying to educate and encourage its members, especially their elderly members to get the Flu vaccines, what flu is and the measures to take to avoid contacting it.

“Many still do not take flu seriously. They do not realize that along with infection in the nose and throat, there can also be infection in the lungs which can become serious at times and lead to death,” Patel said.

He said the CDC reports annually, between 9 and 41 million Americans getting infected and developing flu symptoms.

Apart from the Flu vaccination drive, the Flushing Swaminarayan Mandir also organizes other medical drives throughout the year. One of the medical measures Patel has introduced at the temple is to have reserves of B12 shots and antibiotics at the temple for sudden use.

“We continue to attend to people on an ongoing basis. We also organize other drives like Blood Pressure Check and B12 shots drive,” Patel said.