It’s Not Too Late to Get Vaccinated This Season!
Now is the time to get vaccinated to stay safe and healthy amid holiday gatherings and rising levels of respiratory viruses, including the flu, Covid-19 and RSV, experts say. “To protect yourself and your family this holiday season, take the steps that we do every year to protect ourselves,” Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a video posted to social media Wednesday. “It’s not too late to get vaccinated if you haven’t already.”
It takes about two weeks for vaccines to provide optimal protection, so getting the shot now would lead right into Christmas. But the shots offer some additional protection before that, and well after. “Do it right away,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University. “The bulk of the winter is yet to come, so still protect yourself.”
So far this season, vaccination rates are low – but respiratory virus transmission is high. Weekly hospitalizations for flu, Covid-19 and RSV are on the rise, CDC data shows. During the week ending November 18, there were about 7 new respiratory virus admissions for every 100,000 people, about 35% higher than a month earlier.
Excerpted from CNN
