JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Though COVID-19 has dominated the headlines in 2020, peak flu season in Florida is fast approaching.
Doctors say with more people inside, the number of people spreading and getting sick from the flu is increasing. In response, the #FluVaxJax campaign is ramping up their efforts to encourage residents to get a flu shot.
According to Dr. Sunil Joshi, while September and October are the ideal months to get the vaccine, there is still plenty of time for people to get vaccinated for this year's flu before the mid-January peak.
“There are spikes in hospitalizations in respiratory illnesses any given year," Joshi said. "Whether it’s the flu, RSV, or another virus now you add COVID-19 the chances of us reaching capacity start to go up if we’re not doing the right things like getting the flu shot.”
The Duval County Medical Society, which organized FluVaxJax.com, reported as of November 30, there were 245,000 Duval County residents vaccinated. That number is just over one-third of the population.
Dr. Joshi said in 2016, about 36% received the vaccine during the entire season.
The Duval County Medical Society is hosting a 12 Days of #FluVaxJax Facts on their Twitter page beginning Tuesday. Each day, the organization will tweet a different fact about the flu and the importance of flu vaccines.