Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By TOM LAVENTURE
Hurley — Public health officials say that getting the most people vaccinated with a flu shot as possible by October will hopefully avoid the “twindemic” potential of both influenza and COVID-19.
The Iron County Health Department has received its first shipment of influenza vaccine for the 2020-2021 flu season. The department guidelines are to distribute vaccines as soon as possible with the goal of vaccinating the community by the end of October.
“We don’t want to confuse the flu season with the COVID-19,” said Zona Wick, a registered nurse and retired county health officer who returned to assist current health officer, Katie Hampston, as the public information officer during the pandemic. “Many of the symptoms are the same and that gets really difficult.”
The first flu-shot clinic will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15 at the Iron County Highway Garage, 607 3rd Ave. N., in Hurley. The location will be familiar as it’s the mobile food pantry location.
The clinics will likely be using the drive-thru model that is currently being used for the COVID-19 testing. Future flu-shot clinics will be scheduled in Hurley, Mercer and other Iron County locations as more vaccine shipments arrive.
“We’re working on scheduling weekly drive-thru flu-shot clinics,” she said. “We want to protect our nurses in a very small health department.”
There will be some paperwork involved but the drive-thru process goes pretty quick, Wick said. People should bring a Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance card. There is limited supply for the uninsured or otherwise it will be $30 cash without insurance.
“People should be wearing face masks and wear a short-sleeve shirt,” Wick said. “People will stay in their cars and the nurse will give the shot right there.”
Flu vaccine will also be available from health care providers, Walgreens and Walmart, she said. The message is to get a flu shot and not where to get the flu shot.
The number of flu cases may actually be lower this year with more people already practicing virus prevention for COVID-19 with face masks, washing hands, social distancing and traveling less, Wick said. The flu and coronavirus are both viruses that are transferred via respiratory droplets and are similar as a contagion with similar prevention methods.
“Since people are wearing masks and social distancing, it could reduce the flu numbers, for sure,” Wick said. “We don’t know that but we certainly hope for that.”
The onset signs and symptoms of the viruses are also similar and people may not know if they have flu or coronavirus, she said. Getting a flu shot is even more important this season to avoid the confusion.
Health workers are challenged with responding to vaccinate the public during the pandemic. At the same time they must also protect themselves with a higher level of health safety.
“We want to give out the flu vaccine but we do not want to be exposed to COVID-19 in the meantime,” Wick said.
The health department has received its initial shipment of influenza vaccine for the 2020-21 influenza season, she said. It’s important not to hold on to the vaccine and to conduct vaccinations right away, she said.
The quadrivalent flu vaccine for this season contains A (H1N1), A (H3N2), B (Victoria lineage), B (Yamagata lineage), she said. A quadrivalent is designed to protect against four different flu viruses, including two influenza A viruses and two influenza B viruses, that are believed to be likely strains for the season.
“They vary based on what they think will come this way,” Wick said. “The A strains are what we’ve been seeing in the past. We are not seeing anything different than usual.”
The influenza vaccine is a dead virus and not a live virus, she said. There may be a localized reaction, but people will not get the flu from the vaccine.
“People should not hesitate getting a flu shot,” Wick said.
Influenza, just like COVID-19, puts people with the most vulnerable respiratory systems and immune systems at the highest risk. These include seniors, children and people with health issues.
The recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is to start giving flu shots as soon as the vaccine arrives, she said. The hope is that the coronavirus vaccine will soon follow and they will also move on that as fast as possible, she said.
The CDC lists Wisconsin as experiencing sporadic influenza activity on it’s 2020-21 flu season map. A flu season typically runs from August to April.
From Aug. 24, 2019 through April 4, 2020, the bulk of the 2019-20 flu season, there were 17,210 test-confirmed cases of influenza, 4,482 flu-related hospitalizations and 167 reported deaths in Wisconsin, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health. There were 2,005 reported pneumonia deaths during that time.
