Flu Season May Be Rough In MD As it Collides With COVID: Experts

MARYLAND — Flu season is approaching in Maryland, and health experts are urging everyone over 6 months, with rare exceptions, to get their flu shots.

Walgreens, CVS, Giant Food and other pharmacies in Maryland are already scheduling appointments or offering shots on a walk-in basis as health officials worry about what a worse-than-usual flu season in the Southern Hemisphere portends for the United States.

Here are links to schedule flu shots at several Maryland pharmacy chains:

• Giant Food: Flu vaccinations are available at all 153 in-store pharmacies for both adults and children with no appointment required. The vaccinations are administered by Giant’s pharmacists and are often covered in-full by most insurance plans. To find a local Giant pharmacy, visit giantfood.com/store-locator.
• CVS: You can schedule a flu shot at a CVS pharmacy near you via their website. Find a CVS location in your area, including pharmacies in some Target stores.
• Walgreens: The chain says it has flu vaccines available for anyone age 3 and older.Schedule your flu shot online. Find a pharmacy location near you.
• Safeway: No appointment is needed for vaccinations, the chain said. But you can schedule your flu shot if you prefer.
• Harris Teeter: You can go online to schedule a flu shot and other vaccinations at a store near you.

Australia, for example, is experiencing its worst flu season in five years. The flu season runs from April-October in the Southern Hemisphere. New Zealand also saw its highest rates of influenza in two years.

The flu season, which in the United States starts in October, is coming as COVID-19 continues to circulate, fueling concerns of a “twindemic.” Various forecasts point to an uptick in COVID cases, though likely not as severe as last year’s omicron surge.

U.S. health officials “better pay attention” to the flu season in the Southern Hemisphere, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Bloomberg News as he prepares to exit the office he’s held for nearly 40 years.

That part of the world “has had a pretty bad flu season, and it came on early,” Fauci said. “Influenza — as we all have experienced over many years — can be a serious disease, particularly when you have a bad season.”

If the seasonal flu and accelerating rates of COVID-19 collide, the upcoming winter would be the first U.S. health officials have had to contend with two serious respiratory diseases circulating together at higher levels. Fauci and other infectious disease experts have warned about a twindemic since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

The flu season typically starts in October, and it takes about two weeks after vaccination for flu antibodies to develop, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That makes the timing of flu shots important.

It’s safe to get flu shots and COVID-19 vaccinations at the same time, according to the CDC. That includes the newly authorized omicron-specific booster shot. Health officials recommend the booster for most Americans.

The CDC offers guidance on who should get a flu shot. In general, children, older people and those with underlying conditions such as asthma, COPD and other respiratory problems are the most vulnerable to the flu.

The CDC said people 65 and older should get one of three preferential vaccines — Fluzone High-Dose Quadrivalent vaccine, Flublok Quadrivalent recombinant flu vaccine