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 August 2021
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Preventing Influenza During the 2021-2022 Flu Season Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic
By. Michelle Doebler, MPH, Influenza Epidemiologist, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services- Division of Immunization
Influenza infections annually typically cause millions of illnesses and thousands of hospitalizations and deaths throughout the United States. The 2020-2021 flu season was unique compared to many previous seasons. Influenza activity remained low or below baseline thresholds for many surveillance programs throughout the entire flu season.1 During this time, jurisdictions also had many measures in place including mask mandates, social distancing recommendations, and stay-at-home orders to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Community mitigation measures could have contributed to the reduced transmission of influenza activity between seasons and during the 2020-2021 influenza season.2 Flu activity in Michigan reflected patterns of activity seen on a national level.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) stated that influenza activity during the period between October 2020 and May 2021 was lower than any previous influenza season since 1997, which was the first season that publicly available flu data were available.3 Among over 1 million specimens tested at clinical laboratories, only 0.2% of specimens were positive for an influenza virus compared to 2.35% positivity during 2019.2 As COVID-19 mitigation measures are relaxed and schools and workplaces continue to resume in-person activities, public health professionals indicate the importance of fall influenza vaccination campaigns in addition to the use of everyday preventative actions.
The most effective way to prevent flu is with an annual flu vaccination. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends that all persons aged 6 months and older, without contraindications, receive a flu vaccination every year. However, flu vaccination coverage across the country is below the Healthy People 2030 goal of 70 percent. Preliminary estimates for the 2020-2021 flu season indicate that national coverage for children decreased compared to the 2019-2020 season.5 Flu vaccination coverage among children aged 6 months through 17 years was estimated to be 58.2% as of the week ending April 17, 2021, for the 2020-2021 season, compared to 63.8% for the 2019-2020 flu season. Preliminary available vaccination coverage estimates among adults aged 18 years and older for the 2020-2021 flu season indicated that coverage has increased to 55%, compared to 48.4% for the 2019-2020 flu season. In Michigan, utilizing data from the Michigan Care Improvement Registry (MCIR), flu vaccination coverage for everyone aged 6 months and older was 34.3% for the 2020-2021 flu season.6
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Vaccine Nationalism and the Dynamics and Control of SARS-CoV-2
Vaccines provide powerful tools to mitigate the enormous public health and economic costs that the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic continues to exert globally, yet vaccine distribution remains unequal among countries. To examine the potential epidemiological and evolutionary impacts of ‘vaccine nationalism’, we extend previous models to include simple scenarios of stockpiling between two regions. In general, when vaccines are widely available and the immunity they confer is robust, sharing doses minimizes total cases across regions. A number of subtleties arise when the populations and transmission rates in each region differ, depending on evolutionary assumptions and vaccine availability. When the waning of natural immunity contributes most to evolutionary potential, sustained transmission in low access regions results in an increased potential for antigenic evolution, which may result in the emergence of novel variants that affect epidemiological characteristics globally. Overall, our results stress the importance of rapid equitable vaccine distribution for global control of the pandemic.
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September is National Preparedness Month
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 The 2021 theme is “Prepare to Protect. Preparing for disasters is protecting everyone you love.”
Weekly Themes:
- September 1-4: Make A Plan
- September 5-11: Build A Kit
- September 12-18: Low-Cost, No-Cost Preparedness
- September 19-25: Teach Youth About Preparedness
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Disability Accessibility in Health Care, What's New?
August 26, 2021 | 2:30 p.m.
Webinar
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) enforces federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, religion and the exercise of conscience. This seminar will focus on what HHS OCR does to enforce those laws that protect the rights of individuals with disabilities to have an equal opportunity to participate in health care program activities and services.
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The Guardian of Public Health is a monthly newsletter from the Bureau of EMS, Trauma and Preparedness (BETP) within the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). The Guardian aims to provide readers with relevant content on topics that affect the public health of Michigan's citizens and communities. |
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This publication was supported by Cooperative Agreement number 1NU90TP922062-01-00, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Department of Health and Human Services.
Bureau of EMS, Trauma & Preparedness | 1001 Terminal Rd, Lansing, MI 48906 | 517-335-8150
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