CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — As we enter the colder months of the year, our chances of contracting a respiratory illness increase.
This year, the CDC is updating its vaccine recommendations in the face of increased risks from the novel coronavirus and pneumonia.
“The vaccine doesn’t mean you won’t get sick. It just means that if you come into contact with the pneumonia virus or bacteria, you’ll fare better.”
The CDC has now changed its recommendations for the pneumococcal vaccine, lowering the age range for vaccination from 65 to 50.
“Lowering the age range for pneumococcal vaccination will give more adults the opportunity to protect themselves from pneumococcal disease at an age when their risk of infection is significantly higher,” the CDC said.
Regarding the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, the CDC recommends vaccination against the 2024-2025 novel coronavirus six months after the first vaccination for people 65 years of age and older and those with weakened immune systems. It is recommended that you receive the second dose of the vaccine.
“This recommendation also provides clarity to health care providers about how many vaccinations per year should be given to moderately or severely immunocompromised patients, and expands the scope of second-dose vaccinations for that group. It is aimed at
Phil Smith, a pharmacist at Access Family Pharmacy, says the main goal is to keep people out of the hospital.
“The data shows that the pneumonia vaccine can prevent people from being hospitalized and die, and the COVID-19 vaccine can prevent hospitalization and death as well. So that’s the main thing we’re trying to do. Get people out of the hospital. We just don’t let them go,”’ Smith said.
And the days are going to get even colder. . .
“Especially when it gets colder, you start to see a lot of people together indoors, and these situations tend to be cyclical,” Smith said.
The CDC’s respiratory seasonal outlook suggests that the fall-to-winter respiratory disease season could result in the combined peak number of hospitalizations for COVID-19, influenza, and RSV to be similar to or lower than last season. I expect it to be highly sensitive.
Vaccination is expected to play a key role in that, they say.
