It’s hard to overstate the importance of flu shots in the fight against the novel coronavirus.
By getting vaccinated, you reduce the risk you’ll develop a respiratory infection that looks a lot like COVID-19. You’re less likely to end up infecting others, shutting down your workplace, or driving yourself and others into quarantine.
That’s why so many health experts are urging Americans to pull up their sleeves.
Businesses work hard each year to encourage workers, customers, and others to get vaccinated. In a normal year, you can even get jabbed at work. Those efforts continue despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Yet we have a long way to go before we hit the 70% vaccination target established in the government’s Healthy People 2020 report.
Experts recommend routine annual flu vaccination for all but the youngest infants. Yet only half that population got a flu shot during the 2019-2020 flu season, according to the latest CDC data.
These estimates show huge variations among the states. When you look at vaccination rates among adults, for example, there are some places where only four in ten adults were vaccinated against seasonal influenza.
One bright spot: about 70% of seniors were vaccinated last year.
The rest of us can – and must -- do better to prepare for what CDC Director Robert Redfield has called “a dangerous double whammy for the health care system.”
Get a flu shot. Wear a mask.
Visit this site to find a vaccination site near you.
