It is more important than ever to get a flu shot this fall, public health officials said.
Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, advises people to get the flu shot early so that their immune system has a chance to ramp up.
Over many years, the flu vaccine has been proven to be safe and effective, she said.
Ezike has gotten a flu shot every year since she was in medical school.
“The best protection against the flu is prevention,” she said.
Wearing masks, washing your hands and social distancing protect you against COVID-19 and the flu virus.
Ezike gets really annoyed when people tell her that the flu shot can give you the flu.
“That is absolutely not true,” she said.
Another common complaint Ezike hears from people is that they get a flu shot and then come down with the flu anyway.
“A lot of people wait too long to get their flu shots,” Ezike said.
The vaccine takes a couple weeks to ramp up a person’s immune system and provide full protection. If people are exposed to the flu before the vaccine kicks into gear, they can come down with the flu and blame the shot, she laments.
The good news is that they will get a milder case of the flu – because the vaccine is in their system.
Ezike urges everyone, including children, to get a flu shot – particularly this year. Flu comes on suddenly, she said. Early flu symptoms and COVID-19 symptoms are a lot alike, she said.
“Feeling poorly and tired, fever, coughs, body aches and headaches,” are the early signs of both COVID-19 and the flu, Ezike said.
We all need flu shots this year, Ezike stated, because we need to protect ourselves from getting the flu and COVID at the same time.
Flu season is just starting. COVID is lurking everywhere. Doctors are concerned about “the double whammy.” Getting both the flu and COVID at the same time is a very dangerous combination that can be deadly, Ezike sadi.
“We need to keep our hospital beds open this winter so that we can take care of all the COVID patients who will need them,” Ezike said.