November 10, 2021

Link to FLYER in English and Spanish.

Everyone 5 or Older is Now Eligible for a
COVID-19 Vaccine

The Pfizer vaccine is approved for ages 5 and up, and the Moderna and J&J vaccines are approved for ages 18 and up.

Getting vaccinated is free and convenient. Check out www.orangecountync.gov/getyourshot to see the schedule of walk-in and pop-up clinics, or visit www.myspot.nc.gov to choose a time and date that works for your schedule! StarMed is partnering with Orange County and Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools to offer vaccination clinics for children ages 5-11 years old. There are many places for ages 5 to 11 to be vaccinated, including pediatric clinics, pharmacies and schools.

You may also call 919-913-8088 to schedule. Spanish and other languages are available.

Read More

What Dr. Fauci Sees Coming for the Pandemic This Year

NPR Health News

November 8, 2021 | 8:26 AM ET

The United States has seen a decline in cases and hospitalizations since the summer's delta surge — but the decline is declining.

COVID-19 is still killing more than 1,000 people in the U.S. every day. New cases still hover around 72,000 per day — and infections are actually trending up in some pockets of the country, including parts of the Mountain West and the Northeast.

"Certainly, things are going in the right direction with the diminution of cases, hospitalizations and deaths," Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the president for COVID-19, told NPR's Mary Louise Kelly. "The steepness of the deflection is not as good as it was, let's say, a month or so ago ... it's down to a lower number."

The concern among health officials like Fauci is that winter holidays and cold weather will soon bring about more travel and indoor gatherings — where a respiratory virus will transmit more easily.

So at this stage of the pandemic, what is the goal? Fauci offered a qualitative assessment.

"We're looking for a level of control ... where the level of infection — due to vaccination predominantly, but also people who may have been infected and have some degree of protection — that doesn't disrupt society the way the COVID-19 outbreak is currently doing with us," Fauci said.

Measuring that goal will be "multiphase," he said. Deaths and hospitalizations are an important indicator, but so is the count of infections — and so is the vaccination rate as a way of helping prevent severe disease.

"We want to do all of the above," Fauci said.

Fauci noted that the country "need[s] to do better" with adolescent vaccination rates and pointed out that over 60 million people in the U.S. have been eligible for vaccination but are not yet vaccinated. But he said "something that's in our favor" is the opportunity to inoculate around 28 million children aged 5 to 11 who became eligible to receive a vaccine this week.

"So as we go into the winter months with the challenge of a respiratory infection being worse in the winter months, we can get through this if we really put a lot of effort into getting as many people vaccinated as we possibly can," Fauci said.

He urged parents to get their 5- to 11-year-old children vaccinated, citing "really good efficacy and really good safety profile."

"I would tell the parents: Although it is less likely for a child to get a serious result from infection than in adults, particularly an elderly adult, it is not something that's trivial with children," he said.

He also commented on the development of anti-COVID pills that may reduce the severity of infections.

An antiviral drug made by Merck also won authorization in the U.K. on Thursday. And the pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced Friday that its antiviral drug reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 89% in a clinical trial.

"The results were really quite striking," Fauci said of the Pfizer data.

However, he cautioned that the promise of therapeutic drugs were no substitute for vaccinations that would prevent or diminish infections in the first place.

"The best way traditionally — not only with COVID-19, but with any infection — it is always, always better to prevent it than to have to worry about treating it," he said.

The free COVID-19 testing clinics hosted by OCHD are conducted by two different vendors, StarMed Healthcare in Hillsborough and Optum in Chapel Hill. Please register with the appropriate vendor depending on which location you would like to attend.

https://www.orangecountync.gov/2451/Testing

Free COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics

Vaccines are free, and no ID is required! If you are coming for your second dose, please bring your vaccination card with the record of your first dose. Visit our COVID-19 Vaccine page for the most up-to-date information: www.orangecountync.gov/getyourshot, or call (919) 913-8088 with any questions.

The Hillsborough walk-in clinic at Bonnie B. Davis will continue to serve only ages 12 and up for their COVID-19 vaccine primary series and boosters. WALK-INS WELCOME IN HILLSBOROUGH! The Chapel Hill clinic, however, will be ONLY for ages 5 to 11 and boosters by appointment only. To make an appointment call (919) 913-8088 or visit www.myspotnc.gov to make an appointment.

Regular Vaccine Clinics
Bonnie B. Davis Environment & Agricultural Center
1020 US Hwy 70 W, Hillsborough, NC
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 9:00am - 4:30pm
Please call (877) 505-6723 to schedule an appointment.
***Ages 12 and up only.
***Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are available.

Southern Human Services Center
2501 Homestead Rd, Chapel Hill, NC
Monday - Friday, 8:30am - 4:30pm
Please call (919) 913-8088 to schedule an appointment.
***Vaccines are available for ages 5-11 and for boosters by appointment only.
***Moderna, J&J, and Pfizer vaccines are available.

Pop-Up Walk-In Vaccine Clinics

In addition to our regularly scheduled walk-in clinics (see graphic above), the Orange County Health Department is pleased to offer pop-up vaccine clinics to all community members ages 12 and older. No registration required, these are walk-in clinics.

Farmer's Market Pavilion in Hillsborough (next to the Courthouse)
140 E. Margaret Lane, Hillsborough
Wednesday, November 10 from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm
Flyers: English, Español

It's That Time of Year, Experts Warn:
Get a Flu Shot

Public Health Experts recommend an annual flu shot, and are worried a "twindemic" with Covid-19 could further burden health care facilities this year.

The New York Times
By Christine Hauser
Published Sept. 17, 2021
Updated Sept. 30, 2021

Last fall, as coronavirus cases climbed and the world hoped for vaccines, health experts feared influenza and Covid-19 would combine for a devastating “twindemic.”

While pandemic measures appeared to keep the flu at bay, this year experts are again concerned, especially as some countries and state authorities roll back lockdown rules. Many officials and experts are urging the public: Do not dismiss the danger of the flu, and seek a flu vaccine.

“This year we are guaranteed to have the flu, and we are going to have some version of a twindemic,” said Dr. William Schaffner, the medical director for the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. “It could really further strain an already extraordinarily stretched, strained, tired-to-the-bone health care system.”

The United States is grappling with an average of more than 160,000 new coronavirus cases a day. Hospitals and intensive care units are filling up with Covid-19 patients. At the same time, mask mandates and social distancing have been relaxed in some places, meaning contagious respiratory illnesses can spread more easily than they did last year.

Dr. Schaffner warned that medical providers now had to remind people about influenza: “We are going to have to say, ‘There is another nasty respiratory virus, and don’t blow it off.’”

This flu season unlike any other.

In the United States, flu activity was significantly lower during the 2020-21 season than during any previous flu season since at least 1997, the first for which data is publicly available.

Scientists said pandemic precautions most likely played a role, as many people adopted masking, social-distancing and hand-washing habits.

“The lack of influenza last year was truly remarkable,” said Dr. Patrick Jackson, an infectious disease expert at the University of Virginia. “It may be that peoples’ willingness to wear masks and wash hands regularly and be aware of symptoms may help us moving forward. And I really hope that turns out to be the story.”

Experts hope those behaviors will carry over into the coming flu season, especially as more people return to public transit, restaurants, schools and offices.

But the United States and a number of other countries are not unified in how to confront the pandemic, and some people have stopped taking those precautions.

That could mean additional burdens for hospitals already treating large numbers of Covid patients.

“Given our politics, a Covid/flu surge will be unevenly distributed to health care systems,” Dr. Jackson said.

Who should get the flu vaccine and when?

The relative lack of flu cases over the last 18 months could also mean that population-level immunity to the flu is lower this season, said Lynnette Brammer, the leader of the C.D.C.’s domestic influenza surveillance team.
And while it is still uncertain how the season will play out, she added, relaxed pandemic measures in some places will “likely result in the resumption of seasonal flu virus circulation.”

“This all could set us up for a potentially severe flu season,” she added.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the season starts in October and can last through May. In the Southern Hemisphere, it typically occurs from April through September.

The C.D.C. advises everyone over the age of 6 months old to get the shot, with a few exceptions. Vaccination is especially important for some groups of people, including those with underlying health conditions, older adults and young children, Ms. Brammer said.

It takes about two weeks for protection to develop after vaccination, so experts recommend getting vaccinated from September through the end of October, but even after that it is better to get the vaccine than not.

Because viruses mutate, requiring a new vaccine every year, even people who received a flu shot last year need another this year, they said. For any given season, vaccines are tailored to the types of influenza viruses — there are many — that are circulating or most likely to be circulating.

If I have been vaccinated for Covid, do I still need the flu vaccine?

Yes, one does not protect against the other. Vaccines are intended to target specific viruses: Just as the Covid-19 vaccines are manufactured for the coronavirus, flu vaccines target influenza viruses.

That means flu shots this year will be doled out as some people are getting initial and booster shots for the coronavirus.

“There is vaccine fatigue out there,” Dr. Schaffner said. “But we are going to have to tell people, ‘Oh no, you need a different one’, right at the time we are boosting.”

Can I get the flu vaccine and the Covid vaccine in the same visit?

Yes. The C.D.C. says the vaccine may be administered without regard to the timing of other vaccines.

Side effects are generally similar when the vaccines are given simultaneously as when they are administered alone, the C.D.C. says.

Dr. Kevin Ban, the chief medical officer at Walgreens, said, “Not only is it possible, but we highly encourage people to be vaccinated for both flu and Covid.”

Vaccines received at the same time do not cause cumulative reactions, Dr. L.J. Tan, Immunization Action Coalition’s Chief Policy and Partnerships Officer, said in an interview. “It is not like you are adding it on.”

Common reactions to the flu vaccine can be a sore arm, and some people might get a little tired, he said.

If you do get the flu shot and the Covid-19 vaccine at the same time, experts advise using different arms to avoid soreness, or at least spacing the injection site for each shot by at least one inch.

Can I catch the flu and Covid at the same time?

Yes. The flu, Covid-19 and other respiratory illnesses have similar symptoms, including cough, fever and body aches. Only testing can identify which virus a patient has, or if a patient has both.

Different tests are used for each, and identifying the difference is essential to treatment. Antiviral treatments exist for influenza, and some patients with Covid-19 receive monoclonal antibody treatment.

“Doctors are going to have to do a whole lot more testing this year than in the past,” Dr. Schaffner said. “It is important to know who has got what.”

What about children and pregnant women?

The C.D.C. estimates that the flu has killed 12,000 to 61,000 people a year since 2010. (More than 650,000 deaths have been linked to the coronavirus pandemic in the United States.)

About 80 percent of children who have died of influenza in past years had not been vaccinated, according to research cited this week by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The flu has the capacity to take a “perfectly normal child and put them in the emergency room in 48 hours,” Dr. Schaffner said. Children have died from the flu when they became septic or got pneumonia, he said.

A big factor for the low flu numbers last season was that children were attending school remotely and avoiding groups, he said.

“Children are really the great disseminators of the influenza virus,” Dr. Schaffner said. “They shed more virus than do adults, and they shed the virus for a longer period of time. They spread it among themselves and then bring it home.”

This academic year, many children are going back to in-person learning, and some are not required to wear masks.

If children who haven’t gotten a flu shot get the flu, they should still be vaccinated when they recover. Experts added that children sick with Covid-19 should not get the flu vaccine until they have recovered.

They also recommend pregnant women get the flu vaccine, as its protection passes through the placenta.

How is flu treated?

Antibiotics are not effective against the flu, but antiviral drugs can ease symptoms. They should ideally be given within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms. People with the flu should rest and drink plenty of water, and most will recover within a week.

Where can I get the vaccine?

Pharmacies including Walgreens and CVS, and at Walmart offer free flu shots. There are mobile apps to make appointments and online vaccination finders.
Public health officials and experts said that vaccination was so important because it reduces the chances of severe, sometimes fatal illness.

“We can’t shut it off like a light switch,” Dr. Schaffner said. “But we can dim it.”

North Carolina COVID-19 Cases

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) reports 1,497,677 COVID-19 cases, 18,371 deaths, and 1,095 hospitalizations. 56% of North Carolina's population is fully vaccinated.

There are currently 11,973 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 110 deaths in Orange County. 71% of Orange County residents are fully vaccinated.

For more information regarding live updates (NCDHHS updates the site every day around noon), please visit the NCDHHS website. 

Orange County Health Department also has a COVID-19 dashboard webpage, with information on COVID-19 data in the county. 

More information may be found at www.orangecountync.gov/coronavirus

Contact Information

For general questions (not urgent) about 2019 Novel Coronavirus, contact NCDHHS at: ncresponse@dhhs.nc.gov or 1-866-462-3821 to address general questions about coronavirus from the public.

If you are an individual or a medical practice with questions about COVID-19, call the Orange County Health Department at (919) 245-6111 during business hours (8:30 am to 5:00 pm).

Contact Kristin Prelipp, the Orange County Health Department’s Public Information Officer at: kprelipp@orangecountync.gov or 919-245-2462.

Orange County Health Department:
Web: www.orangecountync.gov/coronavirus
Phone: 919-245-2400
Email: covid19@orangecountync.gov
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