The weather is starting to cool here in North Carolina, bringing with it the joys of fall. There’s just one thing that could ruin your pumpkin spice latte, apple picking and hay rides: coming down with the flu or COVID-19. This year, there could be some changes to the way you get your annual shots.
Last year’s flu season was the deadliest in North Carolina since the state began recording in 2009, resulting in more than 500 deaths statewide.
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Now, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is making headlines with the controversial decisions coming out of his overhauled vaccine advisory panel. Here in North Carolina, that has resulted in confusion about the availability, effectiveness and necessity of vaccines against both of these common respiratory illnesses.
Questions abound. Should I get the flu shot? If so, when? Am I going to be able to get it if I want it? What about COVID? Is access going to be limited? Do I need a prescription?
Carolina Public Press is here to help.
Flu shots
In August, Kennedy’s panel voted to recommend the flu vaccine this year. The shot remains widely available in pharmacies, medical offices, health care centers and county health departments across North Carolina.
The flu shot is recommended for everyone six months or older, including pregnant women and seniors. The best time to get your shot is in September or October, according to North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services, or DHHS.
“Flu season is deadly,” Fabrice Julien, a professor of health science at UNC-Asheville, told CPP. “People forget that.”
Beyond individual protection, flu shots serve a broader public health function.
“Vaccines remain an important part of overall health and well-being and are one of the most effective means available to prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death,” reads a statement from DHHS. “They help protect the health of children, their families and the entire community from the spread of infectious diseases.”
COVID vaccinations
As COVID rates spike in North Carolina, access to vaccines is changing. Restrictions on the federal level are being countered with measures to expand access on the state level.
Kennedy announced in August that COVID vaccines are not approved for all healthy adults: only those with at least one high-risk condition. That holds true in North Carolina. For folks over 65, however, the shot is approved across the board.
High-risk conditions include obesity, diabetes, asthma, pregnancy, depression, and former or current smoking, among many other common conditions.
This fall will be the first without blanket COVID vaccine recommendations since the product hit the market in 2020. Last year, North Carolina recorded more than COVID-related 120,000 emergency department visits and 21,600 hospitalizations.
This month, DHHS is seeing an extreme spike in viral activity for COVID-19 in wastewater surveillance, bringing it to one of its highest points all year.
Officials here in North Carolina are working to expand access to the vaccine for those eligible under federal restrictions.
In years past, North Carolina was one of only 10 states where a prescription was required to receive the COVID vaccine. But no longer. On Sept. 12, Gov. Josh Stein issued a standing order that does away with the prescription requirement.
“The standing order from our governor is incredibly brave and necessary for the maintenance of public health,” Julien said.
“Still, more can be done. The standing order takes care of people with underlying conditions. For those who do not have an underlying condition, but still want to get the shot, there’s a lot of frustration.”
Local health departments are stepping up across the state to help provide information and, hopefully, vaccines.
“We are working with state and local partners to do all we can to make it easy for our community to get the vaccines they need,” Melissa Bracey, spokesperson for App Health Care, which serves Alleghany, Ashe and Watauga counties, told CPP.
“We are closely monitoring the federal landscape to determine how we are able to administer COVID-19 vaccines locally… We have ordered COVID-19 vaccines but have not received any yet. We are hopeful to have them soon.”
The best time to get vaccinated against COVID at your local pharmacy is in September or October, just like the flu and RSV.
More decisions coming
This week, the COVID vaccine advisory panel — the one Kennedy completely overhauled — is meeting to determine further recommendations for who should receive the shots, and whether those shots will be covered by insurance.
The panel will also vote on recommendations for measles, mumps, and Hepatitis B vaccines.
This story will be updated with that information when it becomes available.
This article first appeared on Carolina Public Press and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.