State pushes for flu vaccinations
With influenza season now coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic, Pennsylvania officials on Tuesday urged residents to get a flu shot.
During an event in Mechanicsburg, Pa., Acting Physician General Dr. Denise Johnson and Ray Barishansky, the deputy secretary of Health Preparedness and Community Protection, joined other health officials to promote the flu vaccine.
“Every flu season is different and this flu season leaves a lot of unknowns,” said Dr. Johnson. “One thing we do know is the flu is serious and can be deadly, which is why it is extremely important that Pennsylvanians are receiving their flu vaccine now. While there is no better measure to protect yourself from flu than to get a flu vaccine, I encourage people to take other preventative measures to protect themselves from the spread of the flu.”
The group also reminded the public that the flu and COVID-19 viruses can be contracted simultaneously.
“As our communities start to relax COVID-19 containment measures — such as masking and social distancing — we’re seeing a resurgence of other respiratory viruses, which does not bode well for the flu season ahead,” Dr. John D. Goldman, infectious disease specialist at UPMC in Central Pa. said. “Health care workers across the region, state and nation have been working tirelessly for over 18 months now battling the COVID-19 pandemic and the predictive models for influenza are concerning. But there is something our community members can do to help control the spread of flu in our region — get your flu vaccine. It’s simple, safe and effective.”
Since flu and COVID-19 symptoms are comparable, according to the state Department of Health, “it may be hard to tell the difference between them based on symptoms alone, and testing may be needed to help confirm a diagnosis.”
Influenza and COVID-19 attack the nose, throat and lungs. Flu symptoms include: fever, headache, tiredness, dry cough, sore throat, nasal congestion, and body aches. COVID’s symptoms include: fever, cough, shortness of breath, diarrhea, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain; headache, sore throat, and new loss of taste or smell.
On Tuesday, the state and Allegheny County health departments released new data on COVID19 cases and deaths.
The county reported 17 new deaths due to COVID, with the deaths occurring between Sept. 27 and Oct. 3. Two victims were in the 2549 age group, six were in the 50-64 age group and nine were in the 65-and-over age group, the county said. The county deaths were among 80 reported in the state on Tuesday.
Since the pandemic began in March 2020, the county has reported 122,693 total cases of COVID-19 and 2,190 deaths. The state has reported nearly 1.5 million cases and 29,611 deaths.
Among the new cases reported in Allegheny County, 32 of them were ages 0-12. The age group reporting the highest number of cases were 25-to-49 year olds, with 67 reported cases.
According to the county’s COVID-19 dashboard, there is a seven-day moving average of 17.6 people a day requiring hospitalization because of the infection. That number is 1.4 lower than the previous seven-day average. Since March 2020, 8,274 people in Allegheny County have been hospitalized due to COVID.
In Pennsylvania, there are 2,882 people hospitalized with COVID. Of those, 682 are receiving intensive care.
According to the CDC, 69.1% of Pennsylvanians age 18 and older are fully vaccinated; 6,237,934 people are fully vaccinated.