Why it’s better to get the flu shot now

Schaffner said the 2021-2022 flu season will be different from last year because we are in a different location due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Let’s look over our shoulder for a moment. The last influenza season was the lowest influenza season in memory. We believe it was because of all the closures related to COVID, ”Schaffner said.

He noted that many people did not go to an office to work, that people wore masks and washed their hands, and that children did not physically go to school.

“When children are infected with the influenza virus, they produce very large amounts of the virus, more than adults, and they also shed the virus for longer periods of time,” Schaffner said.

He explained that when children interact with each other, they spread the virus and then bring it back to their families.

“All the children are back to school, many of them unmasked. Many adults are unmasked. They go to work again, in places of entertainment, religious services, etc. Schaffner said.

“The opportunity is there again for the flu virus to start to spread quite widely,” he added. “I can’t tell you if it will be mild, moderate or severe, but we will have the flu. “

We’ve all heard so much about COVID-19, Schaffner noted, that it’s a good time to remind people of the seriousness of the flu.

“The flu is a distinct respiratory virus that is very, very nasty. This in itself creates a huge increase in hospitalizations and deaths each year, ”Schaffner explained.

“Deaths are concentrated in older and younger people who have underlying illnesses, but anyone can be a spreader of the flu,” he added.

Even still, some people believe that they are healthy enough that they do not need a flu shot.

“This comment translates to ‘I’m going to be sick for a week with the flu because I don’t think I’ll be hospitalized’,” Dr David J. Cannimo, FACP, FAAP, FIDSA, an infectious disease specialist at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, told Healthline.

Cennimo explained that each year some people “who thought they were very healthy still get very sick”.

“They can get infected and become the vector that spreads the virus and infects a more vulnerable person,” he said.

Getting the flu shot protects not only yourself, but everyone around you, Cannimo noted.

Schaffner said that one of the most common reasons people don’t get the flu shot is because it’s not that effective.

“I like to paraphrase this old French philosopher Voltaire, who reminds us that expecting perfection is the great enemy of current good. The current vaccines are the best that current science can produce for us this flu season, and they will prevent thousands of illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths, ”he said.

“While it’s not perfect, it can make your disease milder, and we can all benefit from it,” Schaffner added.

Today, as COVID-19 is still a part of everyday life and overloads the healthcare system, protecting yourself with vaccinations is the best way to do your part.

“If we have a major influenza epidemic, it will put even more strain on our already strained health system,” he said.

“As we have seen with COVID-19, people can get the flu, not realize it and severely affect a vulnerable person, such as the elderly, children, and those with weakened immune systems, such as cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and people living with HIV or lung disease, ”Cannimo said.

“All we can do as individuals to help protect our health care system, we have to do it, and what we can do is get vaccinated against the flu and COVID,” Schaffner added. . “These are quite different germs, so we need different vaccines to prevent them. “

The CDC has removed the initially suggested 2-week gap between a COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines, so that you can actually get a flu shot and a COVID-19 vaccination at the same time, Cannimo said.