By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
State officials are warning of a possible “twindemic” this fall and winter and recommending all residents over 6 months of age get a flu shot.
At Gov. Phil Murphy’s COVID-19 press conference Monday, Sept. 14, state Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said the combination of a severe flu season and a resurgence of the coronavirus could strain New Jersey’s health resources.
“As we enter the fall season, we are also moving into the flu season. We are preparing for the possibility of a ‘twindemic,’” she said, playing off the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said it is important that everyone 6 months and older get vaccinated against the flu and recommended doing it this month or in October. The target for flu vaccinations is 70 percent, but she said less than half the people nationwide and in the state get the flu vaccine, leaving many people vulnerable.
The vaccine, she emphasized, helps protect not only the person who receives it, but those who may be more vulnerable – older or very young or those with other health conditions.
“It helps protect those around you,” she said.
The vaccine will not protect against COVID-19, but it would help protect against flu illnesses and hospitalization.
She said it takes about two weeks after the vaccine for the antibodies to be produced. “That is why it is best to get vaccinated before the virus spreads in your community,” she added. She noted the CDC recommends getting the vaccine before the end of October, but it is still worthwhile as late as January.
During questions later in the press conference, it was noted that in the southern hemisphere where COVID-19 had hit, the flu season was not that bad because the population had taken so many precautions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that also helped prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“We can only hope that is the same experience that we have,” Persichilli said of New Jersey. “That is why we’re starting to warn people now. We don’t really want to see a really bad flu season. It would stress our system terribly.”
She noted that flu symptoms and COVID-19 symptoms are similar and that emergency rooms and urgent care facilities get flooded with people with flu symptoms in December and January and that point-of-care testing is going to be important.
There is a rapid flu test that can be administered that can quickly provide results to let a patient know if he or she has the flu.
COVID-19 numbers
At the press conference, the governor and Persichilli reported that there are now 196,968 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Statewide there were three new deaths added to the state Health Department tally Sunday, but they were not necessarily from that day. However, the governor said there were 12 deaths on Sunday but it has not been determined if they were all related to the coronavirus.
The new death toll in the state is 14,245, with another 1,789 probable deaths due to COVID-19.
The daily positivity rate is now 1.82 percent – 1.42 percent in northern New Jersey, 1.82 percent in central New Jersey and 2.84 percent in the southern region of the state.
The rate of transmission is 1.06 percent, meaning about one additional person is infected for everyone who has been infected.
