PORTLAND, Maine — After a calm 2020 flu season, the virus has returned to Maine. Anna Krueger, influenza surveillance coordinator for the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said the state’s initial cases have developed among young adults.
“Most of this influenza we’re seeing is in college-aged people – you know, people on college campuses,” Krueger said. “This is true for other states throughout the country.”
Late last month, the Washington Post reported multiple universities across the United States are imposing flu vaccine mandates this fall to head off potential outbreaks.
While it’s hitting colleges first, Krueger and MaineHealth Chief Health Improvement Officer Dr. Dora Mills are asking every Mainer to remember their flu vaccine, even as many are still focused on COVID-19.
“Now that people are gathering and going out and about and traveling, you know, it’s only a matter of time before we start seeing more and more of some of these diseases,” Mills said. “Particularly if people aren’t vaccinated or have kept up their vaccines.”
Perhaps a pandemic silver lining: If you’re scheduling a COVID vaccine with your doctor or a pharmacy, you can get both done in the same trip.
“If you’re at your doctor’s office for one, you might as well get the other,” Krueger said.
That’s two shots at staying healthy as winter closes in.