Make Flu Shots Mandatory for School Openings
Failure to control influenza, often spread by children, could exacerbate problems caused by Covid-19 this flu season.
Get your flu shots.
Photographer: Sergei Fadeichev/TASSThis upcoming winter has the potential to be one of the deadliest on record in the U.S., especially if influenza imposes an additional burden on patients and a health-care system already overwhelmed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Reports of low flu rates in other parts of the world, attributed to social distancing practices taken up for the coronavirus, suggest that we could be in for a mild flu season too — if we take the right steps this winter. But many communities around the country are considering restarting in-person schooling. Even with the best distancing measures, this would bring children and adolescents in close contact with one another. Although kids under 10 may not be major spreaders of Covid-19, they are known to spread influenza throughout entire communities — so much so that closing schools is an internationally-accepted, effective strategy to stop the spread of influenza among kids and adults.