​Public health urges residents to get latest COVID-19 and flu vaccines

The cooler, shorter days and changing leaves are hallmarks of autumn, but they also signal the beginning of the annual fall respiratory illness season in Ontario.

Grey Bruce Public Health encourages residents to protect themselves this fall by getting the updated, publicly-funded COVID-19 vaccine and this season’s flu shot as soon as they become available this month.

“Vaccination remains the best defence against severe complications from COVID-19 and the flu,” says Monica Blair, manager of public health’s vaccine preventable diseases program.

“The updated COVID-19 vaccine and this season’s flu shot can be given at the same appointment – saving you time. These vaccines are safe and effective at safeguarding you and your loved ones from potentially serious respiratory viruses this fall and winter.”

Public health began receiving doses of the new KP.2-containing COVID-19 vaccine and this season’s influenza vaccine earlier this month.

The vaccines are initially being distributed to local hospitals, long-term care and retirement homes, and other congregate-living settings to prioritize vaccinating patients, staff, and residents of those facilities.

Public health is also providing vaccine to primary care providers and pharmacies to allow for individuals in high-risk and priority populations, who are at greater risk for severe complications from influenza or COVID-19 illness, to be vaccinated.

The general population can receive this season’s COVID-19 vaccine and flu shot from primary care providers or at participating pharmacies, beginning Oct. 28.

Public health will be holding vaccine clinics in November for children under the age of 12 who are unable to get vaccinated at a pharmacy or via a primary care provider. Appointments will be required and can be made starting in late October by calling 519-376-9420, Option 2.

A schedule of clinics will be available on public health’s website at the following link: Event Calendar.

The Ontario Ministry of Health recommends that all adults and children, age six months and older, get the updated flu vaccine each fall as the influenza virus changes frequently. The flu shot takes about two weeks to take full effect.

The health ministry also recommends that all individuals, age six months and older, receive the KP.2-containing COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it becomes available to them this fall.

Along with getting vaccinated, residents can protect themselves, their family members, and communities from respiratory illnesses by staying home when sick, cleaning hands and disinfecting high-touch surfaces frequently, and practising coughing and sneezing etiquette.

Individuals unable to get the vaccines for influenza or COVID-19 through a primary care provider or participating pharmacy, can call public health’s vaccine preventable diseases team at 519-376-9420, Option 2, for assistance.