Before the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, doctors are pushing for people to get vaccinated as cases of COVID-19 and influenza are increasing in the state.
“I have relatives, and I have friends who are sick,” Dorothy Purrier, of Bloomfield, said.
The CDC recently warned about more people potentially getting seriously sick because of respiratory viruses spreading and low vaccination rates. That includes for RSV, flu and COVID-19.
“I'm seeing a little bit of everything. I think more common in Connecticut right now is starting to pick up is COVID. I have been prescribing more Paxlovid recently,” Dr. Jorge Moreno, Yale School of Medicine assistant professor, said.
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According to state Public Health data, only about 13% of people received the updated coronavirus vaccine. Though it is higher in older age groups.
“If you haven't had it in the last, let's say, four months, after four months, the efficacy of the vaccine probably starts to drop to a certain extent,” Dr. Ulysses Wu, Hartford HealthCare chief epidemiologist, said.
Doctors said getting a dose is about helping to protect others and yourself.
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“Unfortunately, COVID to many, it's really just become the common cold. And that is far from the truth. We are still seeing deaths associated with it. We are seeing long hospital stays, ventilated patients as a result of that,” Wu said.
Experts suggest people consider vaccination, getting tested if you are sick and masking up in certain spots like on planes.
Though with some precautions, they encourage people to still enjoy the holidays.
“We are keeping Christmas small, not spending too much time. We dealt with a COVID scare over Thanksgiving,” Brenda Stupcenski, of Tolland, said.
So far this respiratory season, there have been 172 COVID-related deaths in our state and seven from the flu.
