ATLANTA — Pediatricians are urging parents to vaccinate their children against the flu before Halloween. This year getting the flu shot is even more critical, they say, as hospitals are already strained with COVID-19.
11Alive's Natisha Lance spoke with one of Georgia's leading pediatricians about what you need to know for your kids and the flu shot. He said Oct. 1 starts the countdown clock to get it done.
"You want to get your child immunized for the flu before the flu virus is circulating in your community," Dr. Hugo Scornik, the president of the Georgia chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said. "So the thought is, if you get your child immunized before Oct. 31, you should be good and your child will be protected before the flu hits our area."
Like turning a corner in a haunted house, the flu is unpredictable. It could hit any time between November and February.
That's why doctors suggest it's best to get your children vaccinated by Halloween, and this year there is even more need the fend off the flu amid the ongoing pandemic.
"Certainly don't want a flu pandemic on top of a COVID pandemic," Dr. Scornik said. "Our hospitals are already busy dealing with the COVID virus and so you want to do everything you can to protect your child."
Any child six months and up can get the flu vaccine. The shot is either already available or will be available at most public health clinics around the state beginning this week, and pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens have them readily available for free with most insurance (without insurance the shot typically costs $30-40).
While there's been virtually no flu season since the early stages of the pandemic in spring 2020, experts have generally credited that to the mitigation measures taken by public health authorities and individual behavioral changes in response to COVID - mitigation measures that doctors fear will be relaxed this year, opening the door back up for the flu.
Medical experts are concerned about a potential decline in natural immunity against the flu virus, given how few people have gotten it in the last year-and-a-half.