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09/21/2021 12:00 AMLast year, flu viruses were “virtually non-existent in our area,” said Connecticut River Area Health District (CRAHD) Director Scott Martinson.
What that means for this year, “nobody knows for sure,” he said, “but the more people that get vaccinated, the safer we will all be.”
CRAHD will be holding its first flu vaccination clinic on Thursday, Sept. 30 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at CRAHD, 455 Boston Post Road, Suite 7 in Old Saybrook. No appointment is necessary.
Although flu viruses circulate at any time of year, October through late May is when incidents of flu are typically increased, according to the State Department of Public Health (DPH).
“You don’t want to get vaccinated too early because [the shot’s efficacy] only lasts for so long,” said Essex Health Director Lisa Fasulo. “So, if you get vaccinated in October or November, you’re pretty much covered in the winter season.”
It takes about two weeks for the body to develop antibodies against flu, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), making the end of October an ideal time for inoculation.
There are two factors affecting flu season this year, according to the CDC.
The first is “reduced population immunity,” said federal health officials. This is because of reduced flu activity since the start of the pandemic last March.
The other is the relaxation of certain COVID-19 mitigation efforts, such as stay-at-home orders.
Both factors could lead to an uptick in flu activity for the 2021–’22 season, according to the CDC.
With COVID-19 circulating along with flu viruses, getting inoculated against both viruses reduces the severity of the illnesses and potentially lessens the burden on the state’s health care system, according to health officials.
Although there was an uptick in COVID-19 at the start of September in Chester, Deep River, and Essex, the latest data from DPH is showing a decrease.
“It’s not huge in our area,” said Fasulo. “I wouldn’t call it widespread compared to other towns in the state.”
DPH’s Sept. 16 COVID-19 data report showed 84 towns in Connecticut in the red category or indicating an average rate of 15 or more COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people per day over the two-week period of Aug. 29 to Sept. 11.
In Chester and Deep River, there was an average of fewer than five cases, placing both towns in the lowest, or gray, category. In Essex, there was an average of between five and nine cases, placing the town in the second to lowest, or yellow, category.
Whether there will be another large surge of COVID-19 cases this fall, “is really hard to predict,” said Fasulo. “I do think cases will go up again in October, November when more people are going inside because the weather is getting colder.
“That’s even more of a reason to get a flu vaccine, so that come November and December, in the winter, when people start to get the sniffles, start to get a cold, if it’s the flu, it will be much less of an illness for them. If it’s COVID and they’re vaccinated, it will be much less of an illness for them.”