As flu season approaches amid the second fall of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts say that staying up to date on all vaccinations will be especially important this year.

Since much of the population wore masks, practiced social distancing and attended work or school remotely during the fall and winter of 2020, “last year’s flu season barely registered,” The Associated Press reported.

However, with schools, workplaces and places of businesses largely reopened this fall, it’s hard to say what the flu season may look like this year.

“The worry is that if they both circulate at the same time, we’re going to have this sort of ‘twin-demic,'” flu specialist Richard Webby of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital told The Associated Press. “The concern with that is that it’s going to put extra strain on an already strained health care system.”

Due to this, it’s especially important to get vaccinated this year to protect ourselves, our loved ones and our community and health care system as a whole.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends an annual flu vaccine for everyone 6 months and older and recommends that everyone should be vaccinated by the end of this month, The Associated Press reported.

Although that may seem early to some, it takes 10 to 14 days for the flu vaccine to take full effect. This means that those who wait to get the shot until the flu is actively circulating in their communities may not have enough time to build up protection from getting the shot before they are exposed to the flu virus.

Locally, the Marquette County Health Department is offering drive-thru flu shot clinics in the coming days and weeks. One of the drive-thru clinics will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday in the Forsyth Township Fire/EMS building at 47 E. Johnson Lake Road in Gwinn. Another clinic is scheduled for noon to 6 p.m. Oct. 20 at the Marq-Tran Bus Garage at 1325 Commerce Drive in Marquette.

Flu shot appointments are also available at the Marquette County Health Department. Call 906-475-7844 to schedule an appointment or learn more.

We urge our readers to get vaccinated against the flu, as it’s just one more way we can protect ourselves and others while minimizing the strain on local health care systems and providers as COVID-19 continues to circulate.