Get your flu shot this year. That’s the strong advice from health experts worried that a double whammy of the flu plus COVID-19 could lead to an overtaxed health care system.
“If we were to be experiencing a surge of COVID patients and a surge of influenza patients, that obviously is just going to be a significant challenge, in terms of trying to make sure we have enough care resources available,” said Paul Biddinger, director of the Emergency Preparedness Research, Evaluation & Practice Program (EPREP) at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and chief of emergency preparedness at Massachusetts General Hospital, in a September 11, 2020 interview on NBC 10 Boston.
Biddinger said there are several reasons for people to get flu shots, including helping avoid overburdening the health system and giving people the ability to rule out the flu as the cause of any symptoms they might be experiencing. “This is really the most important year for them to get their flu vaccine,” he said.
Watch the NBC 10 Boston interview: Health Officials Brace for Dual Threats of Flu Season, COVID-19 Pandemic