Pushing the needle on flu shots
Gov. urges residents to get vaccine
Gov. Charlie Baker got his flu shot Thursday, and he wants you to get yours, too.
The Baker administration is urging Massachusetts residents to get flu shots in an effort to stave off potential dual surges of the coronavirus and influenza this fall that experts warn could place an even greater burden on the health care system.
“It’s critical that we do everything we can to minimize the impact of the flu and other respiratory illness,” Baker said at a CVS in Roslindale after he and other top members of his administration received their flu shots. “This will keep people healthy and help maintain capacity in hospitals and other health care facilities in case there is another surge associated with COVID-19.”
Baker implored people to get their flu vaccines not just for themselves but for the health care professionals who have done “heroic work” battling the pandemic.
While acknowledging that some people are “troubled” by the state’s mandate that students from preschool to college get a flu shot — an order that sparked protests — Baker said the requirement was put in place at the behest of the health care community.
“Having the flu and COVID-19 surge in the commonwealth at exactly the same time would be an incredibly difficult situation for them to manage their way through and they urged us to step up our game” on flu shots, Baker said.
Massachusetts has an 81% vaccination rate among elementary schoolaged students, but Baker said “we can do better and we should.”
The state is set to receive 1.156 million doses of flu vaccines this year, up from the 900,000 the Department of Public Health typically orders, Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders said.
“This season we have focused efforts to obtain additional flu vaccines because of the new school policy for students and knowing this flu season overlaps with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” Sudders said. “We encourage everyone over six months to get a flu shot as soon as possible.”
Last flu season, Massachusetts saw 40,000 influenza cases and 6,600 deaths, along with 55,000 emergency room visits.
“Vaccines save lives, and this is more important than ever,” Sudders said.
Along with administering flu shots, CVS is opening another 12 drive-thru coronavirus testing locations in Massachusetts, including in Roslindale, beginning Friday, bringing their total to 51 testing sites in the state.