Preparing for New York State’s flu season during a pandemic
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Contributor(s):
- New York State Health Foundation, issuing body.
- Publication:
- New York, NY : New York State Health Foundation, September 2020
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- COVID-19 Influenza, Human -- prevention & control New York United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Last year’s 2019–20 seasonal flu infected more New Yorkers than ever previously recorded by the State (see Figure 1). Controlling these record numbers was already a priority for the upcoming 2020–21 flu season. But with the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic, reducing rates of flu infection will be more important—and potentially more challenging—than ever. COVID-19 has infected more than 445,000 New Yorkers as of mid-September 2020, with communities of color experiencing a disproportionate toll. Once the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, new cases in New York State have plateaued in recent months at a lower rate, as the pandemic generates other hotspots across the country. However, the potential for a second outbreak in the fall could cause additional loss of life in New York State, as well as further widen long-standing racial and ethnic disparities in health outcomes. Early and aggressive preparation for the flu season is vital to limit preventable deaths and additional strain on the health care system. To this end, New York State’s Governor has asked all county health departments to prepare a combined flu and COVID testing and vaccination plan for the upcoming flu season. The pandemic will bring new challenges and require new approaches for achieving lifesaving levels of flu vaccination rates. Key actions include: prioritizing communities at higher risk for the flu; increasing vaccination access; tailoring public health messaging to resonate with New York’s diverse population; and countering rising vaccine misinformation triggered by the development of a coronavirus vaccine.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (16 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918402186106676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918402186106676