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COLUMBIA, S.C. (WC) – With flu season underway in the U.S. and a newly updated covid booster available, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is encouraging South Carolinians to get these shots if they are eligible.
The White House’s covid coordinator recently recommended before Halloween that Americans get the new covid booster, which protects against the first strains of the coronavirus and the new major variants, to boost their protection during the holidays.
DHEC’s guidance is even simpler.
“Our recommendation is that people vaccinate if they’re due for vaccination, so if someone has a previous covid booster, they can get this new dual booster two months later,” said DEC medical advisor Dr. Jonathan Noche. “So if it’s been at least two months since you got your boost, you can always go ahead and get this bilateral boost.”
For now, the new booster is available to Americans ages 12 and older, and about 4.4 million Americans have already received it since it was released earlier this month, according to the CDC.
Pfizer asked U.S. regulators to give the OK to the revised booster for 5- to 11-year-olds on Monday, starting the approval process for the children’s group to receive it.
DHEC says the first booster that people got this time last year or early this year still offers good protection against serious illnesses, including hospitalizations and death.
“Your memory B cells and T cells will still kick into gear and produce antibodies and protect you, but if you’re a healthy person, without this new stimulus, you may still get mild illness,” Noche said.
Knoche recommends that older South Carolinians and those with compromised immune systems get the new boost if they qualify, as they are particularly vulnerable to chronic illness.
“Especially as we head into the winter months and flu season and potential holiday travel,” he said.
Doctors say now is the time for Americans to get their annual flu shot.
The flu vaccine is recommended for everyone over six months of age and is safe for women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant.
Flu activity in other parts of the world could be a warning of what could happen in the U.S., where flu season is just getting started, Noche said.
Australian public health officials have reported that the country is nearing its end. The worst flu season in five years.
“Looking at what’s happened in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere, there is concern that this flu season is going to be a bad flu season,” Noche said. “Often what happens there mirrors what might happen in the Northern Hemisphere.”
If people are eligible for both the new Covid booster and the flu shot, they can save travel and get them at the same time, as long as the shots aren’t in different arms.
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