National and local vaccination rates have declined since the Covid pandemic amid skepticism over vaccines. Statewide, nearly 4 million fewer residents have gotten their flu shots at this point compared to recent years.<\/p>\n
And infections could continue to grow as families gathered for the holidays, especially during the cold weather months. Flu season typically peaks in January, according to the state health department.<\/p>\n
McDonald encouraged New Yorkers to protect themselves and those around them by getting vaccinated, staying home when sick, and \u201cpracticing everyday preventive measures. Flu is treatable for high-risk people with antiviral medicine, if taken within 48 hours of symptoms.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n- Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.<\/li>\n
- Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.<\/li>\n
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.<\/li>\n
- Stay home when sick.<\/li>\n
- Cover cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.<\/li>\n
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\u201cIt is not too late to get vaccinated against influenza, and the flu vaccine is widely available to those 6 months and older,\u201d the health department said Friday. \u201cYoung children, pregnant women, people with certain chronic medical conditions and those ages 65 and older are most at risk of developing serious complications from flu.\u201d<\/p>\n
The seasonal influenza vaccine remains the best protection against serious illness and death from the flu, the department added. Flu shots are available to New Yorkers ages 2 and older at health care provider\u2019s office or at participating pharmacies without a prescription; children 6 months and older can receive the flu vaccine at a health care provider\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
For more information, visit health.ny.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The flu is spreading in record numbers, according to the New York State Health Department. \u201cWe are seeing…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":478536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[216768,216769,210,1165,4757,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-478535","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-advice-assistance","9":"tag-attentive","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-lifestyle","12":"tag-parenting","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=478535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/478536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}