READ MORE: Biden says he will request more funding for a new COVID-19 vaccine That means public health officials and communities still need to remain vigilant, monitor the efficacy of vaccines and utilize boosters to shore up protections against this virus. In recent weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported an uptick in COVID hospitalizations.ĬOVID has not disappeared, Schaffner said.ĬOVID appears to mutate and evolve more rapidly than influenza, Schaffner said. fell across the spring, hundreds have still died every week since then. In May, when the Biden administration ended the nation’s three-year-old public health emergency, some Americans may have felt like they no longer had to worry about COVID.
“The flu vaccine is designed to keep you out of the hospital.” COVID
“If you don’t expect perfection, you won’t be disappointed,” Schaffner said. Some patients complain about getting sick with the flu even after they have been vaccinated, Schaffner said, but he urges them not to worry too much, so long as they are able to stay home with their aches and sniffles. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University Medical Center. People who are age 65 or older should request a higher dose tailored to offer them even more protection, he said.Ĭhildren age 8 or younger who have not yet received any flu vaccine will need to receive two doses, said Dr. However, it’s fine to receive a dose in late September if you’re facing scheduling demands or other health concerns, Adalja said. “There’s no signal at this point that there’s going to be a mismatch.”īecause the vaccine’s immunity-boosting protection can fade across the course of a few months, Adalja recommends that people get their flu shots in early October. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Going into this fall and winter’s flu season, “We expect a good match,” said Dr. Over the last two decades, Offit said scientists and epidemiologists have rarely chosen the wrong combination of flu strains for a new season, but he added that “a miss is a mile,” leaving people’s immune systems ill-prepared for preventing severe outcomes. In anticipation of the virus emerging, different flu strains are selected to make up the vaccine for the upcoming season. Infectious disease experts monitor the flu virus globally as it moves across seasons and hemispheres.
“The flu virus evolves so much from one year to the next that it really requires a yearly vaccine,” Offit said.
Paul Offit, who directs the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. military, an annual dose of the flu vaccine has been shown to be safe and effective for anyone who is 6 months or older, said Dr. The PBS NewsHour asked public health experts for advice on who should get which vaccine dose and when.Ĭlick to ask your questions about COVID, RSV and flu.Įach year, the flu poses a deadly threat – preliminary federal data suggest the virus put as many as 650,000 people in the hospital and caused up to 58,000 deaths during the last flu season.įirst developed during World War II for the U.S. health care system, doctors are urging virtually everyone to get vaccinated against the flu and COVID and for people to talk to their health care providers about whether the newly available RSV vaccine is right for them. Payal Patel, an infectious disease physician at Intermountain Health in Utah.Īfter last winter’s flu, COVID and RSV tripledemic threatened public health and the stability of the U.S. “All three are, in general, strongly recommended for the populations they’re intended for,” said Dr. This year, there are more vaccine options to consider that are designed to prevent serious illness from flu, COVID and RSV. As temperatures cool, the risks of respiratory illness rise.
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