Special to the Herald
Winter is cold and flu season, and rather than dealing with the sniffles, coughing, sneezing, and other symptoms of the cold, flu, or even COVID, the Coastal Health District is urging everyone to get the updated vaccines for COVID and the flu.
“We are in the height of respiratory illness season, and unfortunately there is a lot of COVID and flu circulating in our area,” said Dr. Bonzo Reddick, health director of the Coastal Health District. “If you haven’t already received an updated flu and COVID vaccination this fall, it’s not too late; and I urge you to visit your health department, doctor’s office, or pharmacy to get vaccinated.
Dr. Reddick added that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) tracks COVID variants as they circulate in the US, and a new COVID variant, JN. 1, has recently rocketed to the top of the list.
“Two months ago it accounted for about 3% of COVID cases,” Dr. Reddick said. “However, the latest estimate is that JN.1 is the variant causing about 60% of cases in the U.S. right now.
According to Dr. Reddick, JN.1 is a new sub-variant, and there’s both good news and bad news.
The good news is that it’s still part of the Omicron line of coronaviruses that is covered by the latest COVID vaccine. The bad news is that the original COVID vaccine (from 2021) would not be very effective against this strain.
“If you only received your initial doses of COVID vaccine, then you may no longer have adequate protection,” Dr. Reddick cautioned.
“The latest COVID vaccine should be a good match to the JN.1 variant. The updated vaccine was released in September (2023), so if you haven’t received a COVID vaccination since September, then you’re probably due for an updated vaccine,” Dr. Reddick continued. “In the same way that we get an updated flu shot every year because the influenza virus mutates, the COVID virus is also mutating and we have to tweak our vaccine periodically to be a good match.”
Dr. Reddick gave a breakdown of flu and COVID cases.
“The most recent flu report for Georgia shows a very high level of influenza-like illness statewide. On a scale of 0-13, with 13 being the highest, Georgia is at a 12. That means a high percentage of outpatient visits to doctor’s offices and hospitals in Georgia are due to influenza-like illness.
“For COVID, each county is assigned a COVID hospitalization level based on how COVID is impacting area hospitals. The levels are low, medium, and high,” Dr. Reddick explained. “Effingham County is at a ‘medium’ COVID hospitalization level. At the state level, we saw a 10% increase in COVID deaths and a 75% increase in hospitalizations in the first week of 2024.
“These trends tell us there are a lot of people in our area who are sick with flu or COVID, and we should take precautions,” Dr. Reddick added. “In addition to vaccination, I also encourage everyone to remember those good public health hygiene rules we should always follow: Wash your hands often, cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or your elbow when you sneeze and cough, and please stay home when you’re sick.”
