As the holidays approach and temperatures drop, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) is reminding residents to make sure everyone in the household is up to date on COVID-19 and flu vaccinations.
However, with the end of the year holidays approaching, health authorities are trying to prevent the little ones from contracting the respiratory syncytial virus (better known as RSV, for its acronym in English).
“It shows in the extremes. It is seen to mainly affect children under 2 years of age. Any child under 5 is at risk, but those children under 2 are particularly at risk and even more so if we are talking about premature babies,” said Dr. Luna, medical director of the CDPH.
CDPH encourages all people who are eligible to receive the new COVID-19 vaccine, even if they have received a booster dose in the past.
“This new vaccine has the information of the dominant strains, we are talking about omicrons. In the previous prevalent vaccine they have the information of those early Wuhan variants, and more than 1,750 mutations have already occurred in the last month. They should have added more new mutations to that list by this month,” Dr. Luna explained.
This new vaccine generates a stronger immune response against currently circulating variants and offers the potential for broader protection against new variants in the future. Protection that some seek before they hit the road.
“We traveled last November and we all came back and got sick with the Delta variant. We were very sick the whole month of December. So now we’re traveling again and we won’t let that happen again,” said Amy Rosenquist, who attended the Clinical CDPH Vaccination Program this Saturday.
Upgraded booster shots are available for ages 5 and up, as long as they’ve completed a series of primary shots. Flu vaccines are available to anyone who is at least 6 months of age.
