It seems like all that you hear in 2020 is “COVID this” or “Corona that.” Everyone is focusing on the virus right now and on how bad everything is in the world, but what people do not expect is that it could possibly get worse. As the weather gets colder and the holidays come around, so does the flu. As of last year, according to the CDC, only 45.3% percent of adults had received a flu shot. This means if those projections were to repeat themselves this year, it could be catastrophic. The flu has very similar side effects to COVID-19, so it will be hard to differentiate between the two, which will make it more difficult to self-diagnose . According to a 2019 report from the CDC, “an estimated 35.5 million people are getting sick with influenza.” As of the moment, there are over 6.5 million cases of COVID-19 in the United States, stated by the CDC. This shows that the possibility of getting both at the same time is pretty likely and you should prepare for this flu season.

Getting the flu during this unprecedented time is debatably worse than getting sick in previous years. Here’s why: Let’s say you are having covid-like symptoms. There’s a possibility that you think that you could have Covid but there’s also the chance you only have the flu, so you go and get tested for coronavirus and wait 5-7 days to get your results back. During this time you are taking a leave of absence, missing days of work or school that could put you behind for the several weeks following. Then you learn that you test negative, and you only have the flu, so you go back to work or school, and cause other people that haven’t gotten the flu shot to contract it. This is putting other people at risk unnecessarily, because they should be treating the flu just as seriously as COVID, and there is a possibility that you can obtain them both at the same time and getting them both of them can land you in the hospital in the critical condition area, with nobody able to visit you if you were to die form one or the other.

If you haven’t gotten your flu shot, you should definitely put it on your to do list. Pharmacies and local hospitals have just recently started to offer flu shots and people have been rushing to get it out of the way. The people that have already have gotten the shot don’t have to worry about the massive crowds that are starting to form or the inconvenience of waiting for a doctor’s appointment. With this many people trying to get the flu shot there is going to be a limited amount of them because not this many people get them.

Especially this year, it is smart to get a flu shot even if you aren’t typically at high risk or if you have never gotten vaccines before. This is not the year to play with viruses. Benefit yourself and the people around you and get a flu shot!