The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is encouraging people to mask up again to protect against COVID-19, RSV and the flu — a tridemic of respiratory illnesses that are spreading around the country.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky was in Center City for the Bloomberg American Health Summit on Tuesday. During a CDC media briefing a day prior, she urged Americans to wear masks and take other preventative measures.
“We have always said that if you’re living in an area with a high COVID-19 community level, you really want to take that extra protection and put a mask on. But right now, we do know that masks do work for other respiratory viruses as well,” Walensky said in an interview with NBC10.
“So if you’re so inclined, we really encourage people to consider putting your mask back on.”
The concern level has increased because the trio of viruses is circulating during a time when a lot of people are gathering for the holidays.
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“We really want people to be together, we want people to be connected, we want them to be safe. Best way to do that is to take those prevention measures and get your vaccines,” Walensky added.
Health officials would like to see COVID-19 and flu vaccination rates rise. The added protection will increase the odds that people do not become sick enough to need hospital care. A large number of serious cases could overwhelm health care systems.
“If there is an influenza patient that otherwise is in the ICU and didn’t have to be becasue they were vaccinated, that’s taking up a bed for someone else that otherwise might need it,” Walensky said.
About 26% of U.S. adults got the flu vaccine through the end of October, according to the latest figures from the CDC. That is up by about 3% compared to a year ago. The rate was stable, at 40%, for children between the ages of 6 months and 17 years through mid-November. Both figures are expected to be updated at the end of the week.
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So far this flu season, the CDC estimated there have been 78,000 hospitalizations and 4,500 deaths.
As for the bivalent COVID-19 booster shot, an even smaller percentage: 12.7% of Americans ages 5 and older have received a dose.