Doyle didn't have to wait 'til Dec. 25 to unwrap this prickly present, nor did he have to travel via reindeer to the North Pole to get vaccinated.
Instead, Santa - OK, it was actually Marco Maio dressed as St. Nick - handed out flu shots at $20 apiece for the Central Connecticut Health District in the Rocky Hill Community Center gymnasium Wednesday evening.
Pneumonia vaccinations were offered for $30.
While the thought of the real Santa doling out shots instead of toys could seriously scar a child - not to mention a certain reporter who shall remain nameless - for life, getting the flu could be much worse.
Indeed, according to statistics provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, influenza causes more than 200,000 hospitalizations and an average of 36,000 deaths each year in the U.S. alone.
Still, according to statistics, only 37 percent of adults receive an annual flu vaccination.
All of which was enough for Gov. M. Jodi Rell to declare Nov. 26 to Dec. 2 "Adult Immunization Week" in the state.
Adults aged 50 years old and up are recommended to receive a flu shot, in addition to pregnant women, children ages 6-59 months and anyone with certain chronic medical conditions.
Linda Bantell, health educator for the health district, said that, at least for now, November is the best time to get vaccinated because for the last few years the flu season has peaked in late February/early March, as opposed to late January into early February.
Still, there are several popular misconceptions that keep people from getting vaccinated.
One of the most popular ones, Bantell said, is that people believe that a person can get sick from the shot itself.
The shot is comprised of three dead strains of the flu, Bantell said; anyone who gets sick after receiving a shot was already exposed to the virus (the shot takes two weeks for the immunization to become effective), were exposed to a strain different from the one contained in the vaccination, or got sick after the shot's effectiveness wore off.
"You cannot get the flu from the shot," Bantell said.
Doyle himself overcame a common misconception that many people have concerning flu vaccinations.
"I never got the flu before," the 44-year-old Doyle said, adding that Bantell talked him into getting one. "Why start now? If I get it, I'll have to speak to Linda."
As for the health district, which serves Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, Newington and Berlin, this was the seventh of eight flu shot clinics that it has held this year. Bantell said that the district anticipates vaccinating about 3,500 people through its efforts and takes Medicare.
"We get a lot of seniors, people over the age of 65," Bantell said. "We do get some young adults and teams - a basketball coach may want all of his players to get a flu shot."
Volunteers are the backbone of the flu shot clinics; professionals - doctors, registered nurses and pharmacists - handle the vaccinations, while non-professionals handle intake and registration.
In return, the volunteers are eligible for a free flu shot.
Proceeds from the clinics are reinvested into the health district for other programs. Additionally, the health district makes a donation to the Wethersfield/Rocky Hill Professional Nurses Association's scholarship fund.
The nurses association, comprised of about 65 nurses, is one of the last of its kind. Formed after World War II, the association for the last 30 years or so has assisted the health district with flu immunization clinics.
"If it weren't for them, we'd probably have to hire [people]," Judy Torpey, the health district's emergency preparedness coordinator, said.
The clinics serve an even larger role than most people realize, Torpey said.
Indeed, the health district uses the busier clinics - at which about 1,500 people may get vaccinated over the course of just three hours - to assist in the preparation of potential emergencies, such as a smallpox outbreak or pandemic flu.
"It's run very well. We test the whole system - patient flow, forms, screening, we do 'Just in Time' training," Torpey said.
They are dedicated professionals, to say the least. Indeed, to ensure that Rudolph is the only one with a red nose this season, the kind volunteers from the health district even tried to cajole me to overcome a lifetime phobia - I was shying away from the covered needles held several feet from me - to get immunized.
"I want to make sure all the reporters from all the papers get their flu shots," Maio/Santa said.
Anyone getting a flu or pneumonia shot first fills out a brief health questionnaire concerning allergies and his or her current health, and then it's time to step up to the plate, so to speak.
Even on a busy night, the whole process takes less than 10 minutes.
The health district will give anyone a flu shot, according to Bantell, regardless of their residence. Only children under the age of 9 are turned away because the dosage level changes for children that young.
The health district will even accommodate people who can't make it out of their cars, a sort of drive-thru vaccination service, if you will.
And one volunteer - Betty Ann Fusco - handles about 20 to 25 vaccinations for homebound people each year.
All of which is an attempt that everyone enjoys a happy and healthy holiday season and beyond.