COVID-19 and flu cases are down, making it the perfect time to get vaccinated
ST. LOUIS — Cases of COVID-19 have been dropping and flu cases have yet to appear, making it the ideal time to get vaccines against these and other respiratory viruses before the cases are expected to increase, doctors say.
"Go ahead and get in now in preparation for the upcoming holiday season and the winter season, when everyone is going to passing germs and trapped inside their house with the cold weather," said Dr. Doug Pogue , president of BJC Medical Group.
After the start of this year, COVID-19 cases were on a long decline until they began increasing during the summer, peaking in August, and dropping ever since, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Last year, COVID-19 cases saw a rise beginning in November.
What is currently circulating are mostly cold viruses, said Dr. Shephali Wulff , SSM Health's vice president of quality and safety.
"I think we'll see COVID again going into the winter," Wulff said, and full protection takes two to three weeks after getting vaccinated.
The CDC recommends that everyone age 6 months and older get a 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine, especially if you are pregnant, 65 and older, have underlying health conditions or have never received a COVID-19 vaccine.
The vaccines have been updated to provide the best protection from the currently circulating strains of the virus that causes COVID-19.
"COVID has changed so much from the first few years of the pandemic, when people got those first vaccines in 2021. COVID is really nothing like that version anymore," Pogue said.
There are three makers of the COVID-19 vaccines: Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and Novavax. Moderna and Pfizer use mRNA technology, which causes muscle cells to produce a spike protein which triggers an immune system response; Novavax, which works like most other current vaccines, contains a small amount of the spike protein.
Of the three vaccines, none is recommended over the others, but Novavax is only available for those ages 12 and older. Those who have recently had COVID-19 have protection and can wait three months before getting the vaccine.
The COVID-19 vaccine and flu vaccine can both be given at the same, one in each arm.
While COVID-19 is not nearly as deadly as it was during the pandemic, doctors say it is still worth getting the shot. It helps prevent feeling miserable for days as well as Long COVID, when a wide range of symptoms including fatigue, memory loss and chronic cough linger for at least three months after getting infected.
Among the 60% of U.S. adults who have had COVID, roughly three in 10 report having long COVID at some point, according to an analysis in March by health research and news organization KFF .
"We do still have people who get hospitalized with COVID. There are still people who will die from COVID, and we do still see long COVID syndrome where people get COVID and they they're just messed up for a while," Pogue said.
In Missouri, preliminary CDC data shows , about 100 people died of COVID-19 last month.
Wulff said, "There is very little downside to getting vaccinated, and the potential upside is it will prevent them from you from ending up in the hospital."
So far this season, the latest CDC data shows that more than 11% of adults ages 18 and over have received the updated COVID-19 vaccine and nearly 20% have gotten their flu vaccine.
Influenza, or flu, causes between 140,000 and 710,000 hospitalizations each year in the U.S., and between 12,000 and 51,000 deaths depending on the severity of the season.
SSM Health has for several years offered drive-thru flu vaccinations for the St. Louis area. This year, they will be held from 8 a.m. to noon every Saturday through Nov. 2 at four locations for those ages 6 months and older. (Pregnant women are advised to get their flu shot from their primary care provider.)
The locations are: 5252 S. Lindbergh Blvd. in south St. Louis County; 1120 Shackelford Rd. in north St. Louis County; 1035 Bellevue Ave. in central St. Louis County; and 1603 Wentzville Parkway in St. Charles County. Appointments are not necessary but can be made by calling 314-955-9600.
"We want community members to come," Wulff said. "People generally load up their families in the car, and everyone sticks their arm out, and they all get vaccinated at the same time."
Immunizations against respiratory syncytial virus — RSV — are also plentiful after being approved for the first time last year and becoming hard to find as respiratory season got underway .
The new tools include an infusion of antibodies that is ideally given to newborns within a week after birth; another is a one-time vaccine recommended for adults over the age of 75, those over age 60 who are at high risk, and pregnant women between 32 and 36 weeks of pregnancy to protect them and their babies.
RSV is the leading cause of hospitalization for U.S. infants. Each year, it lands between 60,000 to 160,000 adults over the age of 65 in the hospital and kills between 6,000 to 10,000 in that age group, the CDC estimates.
"The good news is we've never had this many good tools to help people stay healthy and well through the winter," Pogue said. The immunizations have proven to be safe and effective, and are easily accessible at pharmacies and clinics.
"It's been exciting that we have things that work, and they're available for people that need it the most," he said. "They're very inexpensive or covered by insurance, so that they're easy to get almost everywhere."
Health reporter
