Flu Season may peak during December and March, but Beatrice McMillan, along with others, isn’t chancing it this year and has already gotten her shot.

“I think they are out of their minds,” McMillan said of people who choose not to get vaccinated. “I would feel unsafe if I didn’t get it. I need that flu shot.”

This is the third year in a row McMillan has gotten her vaccination at the R.A.I.N. Boston Road Senior Center. A member of the center since 2009, the fact that it’s free certainly works as an incentive to get her shot as early as October.

For years, Montefiore Health System and the Walgreens pharmacy chain have teamed up to host pop-up flu clinics throughout the Bronx, where Walgreens and Duane Reade pharmacists provide free flu shots to anyone over the age of 18 who show up.

Already surpassing the amount of people vaccinated this time last year, Montefiore hopes to cut down on ER visits connected with the flu this coming winter. In addition to Bronx residents regularly getting their flu shot, Montefiore looks to target those who forego getting the shot because of fears of the vaccine or its significance.

“The younger age group usually feels like they’re invincible, that they don’t need to get the flu shot,” Geraldine O’Connell, Community Health Nurse at Montefiore’s office of Community and Population Health said. O’Connell added there are 36,000 deaths linked to the flu virus each year. “What people don’t realize is that there can be a lot of complications with the flu. You want to not only protect yourself, but protect those around you,” O’Connell said.

Carlos Tejada, Community Health Specialist for Montefiore, noted that the hospital offers educational workshops on the flu warning about the risks of going through the flu season without the shot.

Workshops also teach the best ways to prevent the flu and dispels myths about the vaccination.