The seasonal flu vaccine is now available to all Peterborough residents six months of age and older at participating primary care provider offices, participating pharmacies and Peterborough public health clinics.
The free vaccine was made available across the province on Tuesday, and Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore, urged everyone to get it as soon as possible because it doesn’t go into effect until 10 a.m. 14 days after vaccination and this is when flu activity will really start to increase.
“Influenza activity has begun in the Peterborough region. Two seasonal facility outbreaks have already been declared and community cases are expected to increase as the weather turns colder and the people spend more time indoors,” Dr. Thomas Piggott, Peterborough’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, said in a press release.
The health unit plans to hold flu vaccination clinics by appointment for children aged six months to two years and their household members starting Tuesday. Additional clinics will be held on December 13 and January 10. The clinics will operate from 3 to 6 p.m. at the health unit’s offices at 185 King St.
A community flu vaccination clinic for people over six months of age will also be held at Cavan Monaghan Community Centre, near Millbrook, on November 17 from 3.30pm to 7pm.
Dawn Hanes, public health nurse with the health unit’s immunization team, explained that the flu shot is the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones from serious flu-related illnesses.
“If you get sick with the flu or other respiratory illness, stay home until your symptoms have improved for at least 24 hours,” he said by email. “Drink plenty of fluids and get plenty of rest.”
Additional ways to stop the spread of the flu, he said, include frequent hand washing, socializing outdoors when you can, adequate ventilation with an HVAC system or HEPA filtration system in the room for indoor gatherings and the use of an appropriate mask.
“Applying the same protections that have worked against COVID-19, such as wearing an N95/KN95 mask, staying home when sick, and getting a flu shot now are the best ways to protect yourself himself and his family,” Piggott said.
Children aged six months to under five years should not receive any other vaccine, including the flu shot, 14 days before or after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, the health unit advises, but anyone older five-year-old can catch his COVID-19 and the flu. vaccine on the same day.
“There are more cases of flu because people are congregating more and public health restrictions have been lifted,” said Justin Bates, executive director of the Ontario Pharmacists Association. “So we expect to see a more severe flu season than maybe we’ve had in the last couple of years.”
The flu shot will not be offered at the health unit’s COVID-19 vaccine clinic, currently located on the lower level of Peterborough Square.
There are 40 pharmacies in the city and county that offer flu shots. A list of pharmacies is published at bit.ly/3Dq1mg4.
There are already 18 Ontarians in ICU due to the flu, with eight on ventilators, Moore said Wednesday.
There are 1,796 people in the hospital with COVID-19, with 138 in the ICU and 52 on ventilators, he said. Also, respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, is returning to pre-pandemic levels, with the season even starting a little earlier, Moore said.
People who are especially vulnerable to respiratory viruses should definitely wear masks now, Moore said.
“As we deal with this triple threat, we recommend that anyone susceptible to this virus with underlying illness or older members of our community, while going indoors, please wear a mask.” , he said.
Vaccination is also key, Moore said, urging all Ontarians to get their COVID-19 booster shots as well as flu shots. It is safe and effective to receive both at the same time, he said.
Immunity from COVID-19 vaccines wanes after about six months, he said. And the Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are “becoming a dominant strain” in Ontario.
Public Health Ontario has said the BQ subvariants grow twice as fast as the BA.5 strain and have a high potential risk of transmissibility, reinfection and reduced vaccine effectiveness.
— with archives from The Canadian Press
aschummer@peterboroughdaily.com
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