December can be a whirlwind. Life is busy enough with work, aging parents, and a full home life. Add in all the holiday hubbub, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Even so, making time to get vaccinated against flu and COVID-19 is important, and simpler than you might think. Really!
The trick is to avoid being misled by these common misconceptions about getting this season’s flu and COVID-19 vaccines.
MYTH: Making an appointment is a huge hassle.
REALITY: Flu and COVID-19 vaccines are readily available at most pharmacies. Often, you don’t need an appointment. Better yet – you can get both vaccinations at the same time.
MYTH: If I do get sick, it will be mild and short-lived.
REALITY: There’s no way to predict how severe flu or COVID-19 symptoms might be or how long they could last if you get sick. Consider that during the 2023-2024 respiratory virus season, COVID-19 hospitalization rates for Black adults were nearly 25% higher than they were for Hispanic and White adults1.
Plus, you don’t want to risk missing out on holiday festivities or travel due to illness. Play it safe instead and get vaccinated.
MYTH: At this point, it’s too late in the season to get vaccinated.
REALITY: Nope. The respiratory virus season can extend into spring, so getting vaccinated in December or later can still provide protection. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), flu season usually peaks between December and March – but can continue until as late as May2. COVID-19 often has peaks in winter, but also at other times of the year, too, so it’s never too late to get vaccinated3.
For the 2023-2024 season, only about 45% of Black adults got the flu shot, and only about 20% got vaccinated for COVID-194. Even so, in that same time, vaccines prevented more than nine million cases of the flu, as well as four million medical visits, over 130,000 hospitalizations, and 6,700 flu-related deaths5.
Don’t make excuses for not getting vaccinated. Avoid being sidelined by illness this holiday season and keep your life running smoothly by getting vaccinated against flu and COVID-19. You’ll be happy you did.
Risk less. Do more. Get this season’s vaccines.
Click here to find out where to get vaccinated – and schedule an appointment.
Sources:
1 https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#covidnet-hospitalization-network
2 https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevention/misconceptions.html
3 https://www.cdc.gov/ncird/whats-new/covid-19-can-surge-throughout-the-year.html
4 https://www.cdc.gov/fluvaxview/dashboard/adult-coverage.html
5 https://www.cdc.gov/flu/whats-new/flu-summary-2023-2024.html
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