COVID-19 might have left the headlines, but it hasn’t stopped transmitting among Americans.
Last holiday season, less than a quarter of the adults in this nation decided to get vaccinated with the COVID-19 shot, and less than half were vaccinated for the flu according to AP.
This substantial drop in vaccinations has a direct correlation to 2,500 deaths and 30,000 people who were hospitalized during Thanksgiving week in 2023.
Combined with the projection of record-breaking travel over this next week, experts are encouraging people to get their COVID-19 and flu shots as soon as possible.
“Thanksgiving is the busiest holiday for travel, and this year we’re expecting to set new records across the board, from driving to flying and cruising,” said Stacey Barber, Vice President of AAA Travel.
AAA projects nearly 80 million travelers will travel 50 miles or more for Thanksgiving. That’s nearly an 11% increase since before the pandemic in 2019.
“The single most effective intervention in protecting yourself, and your loved one, and your community, your friends, your family, is staying up to date with the COVID vaccines,” James Mansi, the Vice President of Medical Affairs at Moderna, said.
Every year, the vaccinations evolve to match the rapid rate the virus is adapting to.
“The challenge with COVID is that the virus mutates at such an accelerated rate. Being able to stay up to date with the variant of the virus that’s circulating, that’s causing that illness and burden for this season, requires that we update the vaccine. No different than influenza,” Mansi said.
The flu vaccinations this year will guard against two Type A flu strains and one Type B strain, according to AP.
The most updated COVID shots are expected to protect against Omnicron subvariants that are currently circulating, according to Yale.
Health experts say those vaccinated in comparison to those that aren’t have around a 60% difference in hospitalization.
“The perception that COVID isn’t as serious or isn’t as big of a threat is one of those misconceptions that we all have a part to help change the understanding (and) change the awareness that these vaccines are safe and effective,” Mansi said.
Short-term holiday protection is not the only factor when considering getting your COVID-19 vaccination – the latest data from Health and Human Services says one million Floridians have an active case of long COVID and almost 950,000 of them experience some form of activity limitation.
The vaccines are free under Medicare, Medicaid, and most private insurance plans.
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