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According to doctors, the best way to prepare for winter sickness is getting a flu and COVID-19 vaccine.
Health experts say it’s important to get your flu and COVID-19 vaccine each year for two primary reasons.
Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state of Michigan’s chief medical executive, said vaccination protection goes down over time and new vaccines provide the latest protection for that year’s strain.
“For both flu and COVID these are updated vaccines,” Dr. Bagdasarian said. “They’re updated every year based on what strains we’re seeing circulating.”
Despite the importance of vaccines, Dr. Bagdasarian said this year only about a million people in Michigan have gotten the flu vaccine. That’s compared to two million at this time of year in past years.
“For influenza, one of the really sad things that I have seen is that the rates of people getting their flu shot in the fall have gone down every year during and since the pandemic,” Dr. Bagdasarian said.
If you do get sick, vaccines will help prevent the sickness from worsening.
“The reason to get vaccinated is because they may not prevent all illness but they keep you out of the hospital, they keep you out of the I.C.U. They prevent folks from ending up on respirators, and most importantly they prevent death,” Dr. Bagdasarian said.
Dr. Robert Van Howe, the Western U.P. Health Department medical director, recommends people stay home if they get sick.
“If you’re sick, stay home,” Dr. Van Howe said. “You don’t need to be spreading this to people at work. Try to stay away from your family members so they don’t get sick as well.”
Doctors recommend frequent hand washing or sanitization, getting enough sleep, regular exercise and wearing a mask if experiencing any symptoms.
The flu and COVID-19 are not the only viruses that transmit during the winter months.
If you’re pregnant or over the age of 65, doctors recommend talking to your healthcare provider about the RSV vaccine.