York Region Public Health is expecting a worse flu season and is asking the public to get both COVID-19 and flu vaccines.
The flu vaccine rollout has begun, with the region announcing this week that flu shots will be available at any regional COVID-19 vaccine clinic. The campaign comes with COVID-19 cases already on the rise and a surge of emergency room visits for children with respiratory illnesses.
Public health physician Dr. Kevin Lam said indicators from elsewhere in the world are there will be an early surge of cases, and unlike in the past couple of years, there are no public health mandates to reduce transmission.
“Hospital capacity is already strained,” he said. “So we all need to reduce the chance of us getting sick.”
The region reported 98 COVID-19 hospitalizations as of Nov. 1, the highest total since May. Meanwhile, hospitals continue to be strained by the pandemic burden and labour shortages.
Public health is again pushing everyone who can to get vaccinated, with appointments available to both get a flu vaccine and a COVID-19 vaccine at the same time.
“We are making it easier than ever,” Lam said. “This is one of the many things we are doing to keep our community safe.”
But public health has had its challenges getting vaccine uptake compared to earlier in the pandemic. York Region’s third COVID-19 vaccination dose uptake is only at 52.7 per cent, compared to more than 80 per cent for the first and second doses.
As for flu vaccines, the province said uptake typically hovers around 30 per cent but surged to 38.7 per cent amidst the pandemic in 2020/21. But uptake fell to 29.1 per cent across the province in 2021/22.
York Region medical officer of health Dr. Barry Pakes said many vulnerable age groups have got vaccines at higher rates, but there is a need for the younger population to step up more.
“What we really need now in this particular phase is for all those people under age 50, 40 … we really need them to get the bivalent (COVID-19) booster now. We just need to lower the overall prevalence in the community.”
Respiratory illnesses among children are a concern in the health-care sector right now as more of them visit emergency rooms. Lam said part of it is children not being exposed to some illnesses amidst the pandemic. But vaccination efforts and following measures like masking can help.
“Staying at home if you’re sick and masking in high-risk situations will also do the same thing, to help protect our children and protect hospital capacity,” Lam said.
Anyone over five can get a flu vaccine and a COVID-19 booster dose at once. Public health is doing a two-week delay between those vaccines for those under age five as a precautionary measure.
You can book a flu vaccine along with a COVID-19 vaccine through york.ca/covid19vaccine or by calling Access York at 1-877-464-9675.
“This is really the time, as we’re ramping up and seeing an increase,” Pakes said.
