Get vaccinated against the flu while waiting for the COVID-19 vaccine! - National Commission on Correctional Health Care
Search
Close this search box.
Dec 7, 2020

Get vaccinated against the flu while waiting for the COVID-19 vaccine!



As COVID-19 surges across the United States and staff and individuals in correctional facilities are especially vulnerable due to the congregate setting and pre-existing health issues, we must do everything we can to preserve our limited health care resources for the winter. Influenza regularly results in millions of health care visits, hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations, and tens of thousands of deaths each year.

Since influenza and COVID-19 have similar symptoms, patients with respiratory symptoms will need both influenza and COVID-19 testing and this will further stress our testing infrastructure. More hospitalizations will divert health care personnel and resources from the already unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases. Finally, influenza and COVID-19 coinfection is possible and early data suggests worsen health outcomes with coinfection.

We need to do everything we can to minimize the severity of this upcoming flu season by vaccinating as many eligible patients as possible. December 6-12 is National Influenza Vaccination Week and we encourage you to ensure that all your patients are vaccinated against influenza. It’s not too late to protect your facility against an overlapping outbreak of influenza and COVID-19.

For more information on National Influenza Vaccination Week and resources for patients, providers, and healthcare administrators, visit: www.cdc.gov/flu/resource-center/nivw

For CDC guidance on influenza vaccination, please visit: www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pandemic-guidance

Related News

Foundation scholarship winners group National Conference 2023

NCCHC Offers $25,000 Match for Donations to the NCCHC Foundation

The Foundation has awarded more than 120 scholarships to NCCHC in-person and virtual conferences
Q and A 680x510 1

Standards Q&A: Should a Psychological Autopsy Be Complete Before or After a Clinical Mortality Review?

A question about Standard A-09 Procedure in the Event of an Inmate Death
J Voisard 2 for blog

In Memoriam: Jim Voisard, CCHP-A

NCCHC mourns the passing of our dear friend and longtime colleague Jim Voisard.