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As Georgia heads into the fall respiratory virus season, public health officials say now is the time to get a flu shot.
“People forget how many people die every year in the U.S. and in Georgia of influenza,” Georgia Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey said during the Board of Health’s September meeting.
There have been 168 deaths, including five children, and over 5,000 hospitalizations from flu in Georgia since last October, according to DPH data. The number of deaths this year is much higher than the past two years – 61 deaths last year and 53 the year before.
Last year’s flu season was particularly severe, with the 280 pediatric flu-associated deaths nationwide, a record high, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Wastewater surveillance data show very low rates of Influenza A and respiratory syncytial virus rates along with moderate rates of Covid in Georgia for the week of Sept. 7-13. Flu cases typically start to increase in the fall and peak between December and February.
State epidemiologist Dr. Cherie Drenzek, speaking at the meeting, urged people to get the flu shot in September or October.
Flu shots are widely available as usual at pharmacies and public health departments. So, too, are RSV vaccines, which are recommended by the CDC for everyone 75 and older and adults ages 50 to 74 who are at increased risk of a severe case.
DeKalb Public Health is hosting a drive-through event for flu shots Saturday at the Lou Walker Senior Center, 2538 Panola Rd. in Lithonia, from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Three types of flu shots will be available, along with FluMist, a nasal vaccine spray for children ages 6 to 18.
People with insurance can get the shots for no cost. For low-income people without insurance, there are programs to provide the shots at low or no cost, spokesperson Eric Nickens said. For others, the shots range $50-$94 out of pocket, depending on the shot, he said.
Covid declining after summer bump
Georgia’s summer uptick in Covid cases appears to be on the decline, according to the latest wastewater surveillance, after rising since July.
“What we see is this late summer little bump in Covid activity, and then we see another one that usually occurs after the holidays,” Drenzek said.
For the last week in August and the first two weeks in September, the Covid hospitalization rate ranged between 3 and 3.6 per 100,000, around the same rate as last February and March, according to CDC data. The hospitalization rate refers to how many people are hospitalized with a confirmed case of Covid within 14 days before or during the hospitalization per 100,000 people.
The increase was also reflected in emergency department visits, when rates were over 1% for each week from Aug. 3 to Sept. 6, according to CDC data.
Confusion around federal guidance has disrupted access to this fall’s updated Covid vaccine. The shots are on the market, but pharmacies are waiting to start distributing them without a prescription until the acting CDC director signs off on new guidance from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
The ACIP, meeting last week in Atlanta, recommended that all Americans over 6 months old be able to get a Covid shot after consultation with a health care provider, a category that includes pharmacists.
Once the CDC signs off on the recommendations, Georgians should be able to get the Covid shot in pharmacies without a prescription.
DPH has not started providing the new vaccines yet, spokesperson Nancy Nydam Shirek said. The agency will review the new ACIP guidance once the CDC signs off on it, she said.
Rebecca Grapevine is a reporter covering public health in Atlanta for Healthbeat. Contact Rebecca at rgrapevine@healthbeat.org.
