Drive through and help prevent flu. COVID has no vaccine but influenza does.
With flu season coming and the COVID-19 pandemic continuing, it’s time to get a flu shot.
“The big question is, how will COVID-19 affect flu season? And the answer is, we just don’t know,” said Health Director for the Coastal Health District Dr. Lawton Davis in a prepared statement. “What we do know is that both are very contagious respiratory illnesses. There is currently no vaccine for COVID-19 but there is a vaccine for influenza. Please get your flu shot.”
This year the Chatham County Health Department is offering drive-through flu shots at the Savannah Civic Center from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Oct. 15. The ongoing drive-through clinic there already tests for COVID-19 at least four days a week. It will continue to do so but will substitute flu shots for its COVID testing Oct. 15.
The Bryan County Health Department will offer drive-through flu shots from 1-6 p.m. Oct. 8 at the Bryan County Health Department, 431 Ledford St., Pembroke and from 1-6 p.m. Oct. 15 at Henderson Park at 500 Veterans Memorial Parkway, Richmond Hill.
Effingham Health Department has not yet scheduled its drive-through flu clinic.
No appointment is necessary at the drive-through clinics.
The flu vaccine is recommended for everyone over six months of age. Vaccination is particularly important for those at high risk of complications from flu, including adults 65 and older, children younger than 5, pregnant women, and people with chronic health conditions such as asthma and diabetes.
While the health department’s COVID tests are free to the public, flu shots are a little more complicated. Those with insurance will be asked to provide that information so insurance will cover it. Those without insurance will be asked to pay $21.93 for the shot if they are able to do so.
Influenza activity is still low across the U.S., said Richard Webby, a member of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Faculty and Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds. Webby spoke at a webinar organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science on Sept. 28.
“It typically takes about a couple of weeks from getting that shot on the arm to when your body builds up the best protection,” Webby said. “And so yeah, think about getting vaccinated now.”
A vaccine received in October should protect the recipient through the end of flu season next spring.
It’s still unclear what the interplay of COVID and influenza will be, Webby said. The flu season in the southern hemisphere’s winter was mild, but that’s no guarantee for the north. The circulation of the two respiratory viruses could sicken even more people.
"It's really hard to tell whether someone has one or the other,“ Webby said. ”So anything we can do now to help take influenza out of that equation is a great thing to do. And the single best thing we can do is to get the flu shot. So vaccination, even in this world of mask wearing and social distancing, is just a tremendously good idea.“
For more information about the drive-through clinics or to download the vaccine consent form ahead of time, go to gachd.org/flu.
