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08/12/2020 08:27 AMTo help alleviate some of the challenges of getting a flu vaccination this year, the Connecticut River Area Health District (CRAHD) is planning to offer drive-through clinics for all Connecticut residents age four and up, starting in September.
The COVID-19 pandemic means that office workers who would normally participate in their workplace’s on-site vaccination clinic are now working from home. Others are reluctant to venture out to sites offering the vaccine in an indoor setting, where susceptibility of contracting COVID-19 is higher.
“CRAHD will be utilizing a drive-through model that will decrease the close contact of vaccinators and those being vaccinated that would occur inside a building,” said CRAHD Director of Health Scott Martinson by email.
The health office is asking participants to pre-register online at www.crahd.org “to decrease time in line and handling of multi-use items such as pens, paper,” he added.
Medical personnel administering the quadrivalent vaccination, which protects against four strains of influenza, will be using full personal protective equipment while participants are required to use a face mask.
Although seasonal flu viruses can infect individuals throughout the year, October through late May is the time of year when incidents of flu cases typically peak, according to the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH).
“In a flu season that is complicated with the COVID-19 pandemic, getting the flu vaccine will help to eliminate severe illness and hospitalizations, including deaths,” said CRAHD public health nurse Sherry Carlson by email.
With patients infected with COVID-19 potentially already visiting hospital emergency rooms and urgent care clinics, helping “to decrease the likelihood of one [illness] would be important to the individual and decrease the burden to our health care system,” said Carlson.
For the 2019–’20 flu season in Connecticut, there were 3,013 influenza-associated hospitalizations, 79 deaths, and one pediatric death associated with influenza, according to the last publicly reported influenza update on the DPH’s web site.
Overall, in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that from Oct. 1, 2019 to April 4, 2020 approximately 39 to 56 million individuals were sick with flu illnesses and there were 18 to 26 million flu medical visits, 410,000 to 740,000 flu hospitalizations, and 24,000 to 62,000 deaths because of the flu.
Each year, the Influenza Division at CDC attempts to forecast the severity of the flu in the U.S. through the organization’s Epidemic Prediction Initiative and external researchers.
The “FluSight” Flu Forecasting Website indicates that forecasting for the 2020-’21 flu season “will resume later in 2020, pending developments with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”
Carlson recommends that individuals follow CDC guidance, which encourages individuals to receive a flu vaccine by the end of October.
“Pre-registering to our clinics does not commit [individuals] to us,” said Martinson. “They can decide at any time to go elsewhere.”
Flu vaccines are also typically available at local health providers and pharmacies, such as CVS and Walgreens.