Yolo County prepares for flu season amid a pandemic

Seasonal flu will act as model for COVID-19 vaccine

Yolo County and the nation at large are preparing for what officials call a “twindemic” — the overlapping of the upcoming influenza season in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Emergency Services Manager Dana Carey is at the front lines of preparing for this confluence, as the county’s total coronavirus cases reach 2,782 people, with 12

new cases reported Thursday.

So far, 55 people have died and 186 have been hospitalized.

Carey says that while it’s difficult to predict what any influenza season is going to be like, vaccine manufacturers look to countries in the Southern Hemisphere when preparing vaccines, since flu season hits these places first.

Doctors in the Southern Hemisphere typically start seeing influenza cases in May or June, with infections at their peak in July or August.

According to influenza updates from the World Health Organization, seasonal flu activity in the Southern Hemisphere remained low this year. This may be due to COVID-19 precautionary measures, like social distancing, restricted travel and mask wearing.

The problem is COVID-19 and seasonal influenza symptoms can look very similar. Carey anticipates that if people do get the seasonal flu, they might think they have COVID-19 or want to be tested to make sure they rule out that possibility.

“That will definitely be extra work on the testing side and for a lot of the medical facilities throughout the state just to try and keep up with patient demands,” Carey explained.

The county is seemingly prepared for an uptick in testing. According to

Carey, the COVID-19 testing program is only running at 37 to 40% design capacity, leaving a lot of extra space in the remaining 60 percentile to handle an influx of people wanting more tests.

According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 42.9% of adult Californians and 63.5% of children ages 6 months to 17 years got the flu shot last year.

Though the infection fatality rate of flu is less than 0.1% — roughly 10 times less than that of COVID-19 — it still kills 30,000 to 60,000 Americans every year, according to an early September UCSF article.

The effectiveness of the flu vaccine can range from about 20 to 60% depending on how accurately scientists have predicted the circulating flu strains that season, according to UCSF.

The CDC reported 29% efficacy for the 2018-19 flu season.

But state officials warn that a severe flu season this fall and winter has the potential to overwhelm California hospitals. They urge people to get vaccinated to prevent that from happening, according to the Associated Press.

California Secretary of Health and Human Services Mark Ghaly said while the state has seen progress with coronavirus infection rates falling to their lowest level of the pandemic this week, officials are bracing for a surge as people start going out more just as the flu season begins.

“We are still very vulnerable with so many things coming as we enter winter,” Ghaly said.

Officials recommend every Californian six months and older receive a flu shot this year. The more people who get the vaccine, the more protected vulnerable populations like the elderly and those with underlying conditions will be.

According to the county’s Public Information Officer Jenny Tan, the flu vaccine model also serves another purpose — a potential template for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Since 2005, there’s been a lot of planning around the mass distribution of medication and vaccines.

In an August Board of Supervisors meeting, thenInterim Public Health Officer Larissa May said vaccine dispensing via the Strategic National Stockpile program has existed since 2005, and has been practiced annually in Yolo County since 2007.

The program was initially designed to combat bioterrorism, May said, and was used during 2009’s H1N1 viral outbreak.

Instead of doing the “big walk-through vaccination clinics” as usual, Yolo County is testing drive thru models via the flu vaccine starting in October, Carey said. This will ensure optimized social distancing.

“If you’re a member of the public going (to the drive thru testing) to get your (seasonal flu) vaccine, then you already have an idea of what you may be doing when you come back for you COVID-19 vaccine,” Carey said.

The county is looking to activate four sites in its four incorporated cities, so everybody has a chance to get used to the model. For those without a car, two of the locations are already mapped for a walk-up and bike-up model.

So far, West Sacramento’s test clinic will be at their City Hall building, Davis’s will be at Harper Union High School and Woodland’s will be Pioneer High School.

As far as Winters, there are two sites being considered, Carey said.

Carey added that the county has seen a dropoff in free clinic visits in recent years, as pharmacies like Walgreens and Rite Aid started offering seasonal flu vaccines for small fees.

Regardless, the county always makes sure that they’re accounting for 1,000 vaccines on hand per clinic during the day, with a runtime of about four hours, Carey said. Most models are done at 45 patients per vaccinator per hour.

In terms of actually ensuring residents to get the flu shot, Carey says there will be more effort put into outreach. With so many county departments working on coronavirus response, there are more resources for public outreach, Carey said.

“The Health and Human Services Agency will be testing how their outreach is working and what the public’s receptiveness is to that,” Carey said.