Chair File: United Against the Flu — and COVID-19

It’s that time of year again … time to get a flu vaccine. We know that getting a flu vaccine is the best defense against seasonal influenza viruses and potentially severe consequences including hospitalization and death. And this flu season, many people can get a COVID-19 vaccine or booster at the same time.

The 2021–2022 flu season was relatively mild, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But health experts predict a more significant flu season for 2022–2023, particularly since COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted across most of the U.S.

United Against the Flu is a collaborative effort by several national health care organizations and the CDC to amplify the importance of getting a flu vaccine. For this campaign, the AHA has developed a variety of resources — a digital toolkit, graphics, GIFs, videos and more — for hospital teams to use in encouraging people to get vaccinated against the flu.

Visit AHA.org to download this free content and customize it for your organization. In addition, the CDC has webpages with seasonal flu vaccine resources for health care professionals and FAQs on the 2022–2023 flu season.

Now people can get a COVID-19 vaccine or booster and a flu vaccine at the same time, as long as they are eligible and the timing coincides. This is an excellent time to encourage your community members, if eligible, to get the updated booster targeting COVID-19 omicron variants, as well as the original strain of the virus. The AHA continues to offer a wide range of vaccine confidence communications resources to support the field in COVID-19 vaccination efforts.

Being united in the effort to get our communities vaccinated against the flu and COVID-19 will decrease the number of illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths caused by these viruses. It’s important work that will improve the health of our patients and communities.