“This year it will be especially important to get a flu shot,” said Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, state epidemiologist. “This is mainly for two reasons: You don’t want to have the flu and COVID-19 at the same time. The second reason is because flu vaccinations can go a long way to keeping people out of the hospital. And we want to decrease the number of hospitalizations in Arkansas as much as possible because of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Annual flu vaccination is recommended for most adults and children six months and older. The flu virus changes from year to year and this year’s vaccine protects against flu viruses expected to cause the most illness this flu season.