The Los Angeles Times interviewed Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, professor or epidemiology and community health sciences, about how to get a flu shot safely.
It’s roughly Month 7 of the pandemic and Week 4 of wildfire season. Unfortunately, we have one more concern to add to your plate: It’s time to get a flu shot.
Thousands of people die every year from the flu. The CDC estimates that in the 2019-20 flu season, there were as many as 740,000 flu-related hospitalizations and 24,000 to 62,000 flu-related deaths in the United States.
If people maintain their social distancing protocols through fall, we may experience a less deadly flu season than normal. You’re a lot less likely to catch the flu sitting in your house. But as coronavirus rates start to come down in some parts of the country, there’s a fear that eased restrictions or even just a perception of reduced risk will lead to a “twindemic” — a rough flu season on top of COVID-19.