Holiday Reminder to Get COVID-19 Vaccine

Don’t wait to get protected against COVID-19, flu

December 09, 2022

The White House’s infectious disease leaders today urged everyone who is not caught up on their COVID-19 vaccines to make an appointment ahead of the winter holidays.

With COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rising, the White House hosted a virtual town hall this morning about the importance of getting vaccinated.

“As we’ve seen waning immunity against COVID, getting that updated, bivalent vaccine is the single most important thing you can do to make sure your immunity is up to date and that you can fight the virus that’s out there,” said Dr. Ashish K. Jha, the White House’s COVID-19 response coordinator.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Cases, hospitalizations:  The CDC reported nearly 460,000 weekly cases, a 50 percent increase from the prior week. The seven-day average for COVID-19 hospitalizations was 29,598, a 14 percent increase from the previous week.
• Benefits of the vaccine:  Getting vaccinated dramatically reduces the likelihood that you’ll have severe illness if you had an infection.
  • People who were previously infected should wait about three months before receiving another vaccination.
• Masking, testing:  Wearing masks in public places and testing before gatherings can help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses.
• Changing variants:  BQ.1.1 (36.8%) and BQ.1 (31.1%) continue to expand their foothold as the dominant circulating variants.
• Quotable:  “There are so many things we can do now to make sure that the things we missed out on during the last two years, we don’t have to miss out on them again,” Dr. Jha said of COVID-19 vaccination, testing, and treatment.

HAP urges everyone who is eligible to get their COVID-19 and flu vaccinations ahead of the winter holidays. Learn more about the options available in your community.

Additionally, HAP has published a toolkit that highlights the strain the flu, RSV, and other seasonal illnesses are placing on hospital emergency departments and the importance of COVID-19 and flu vaccinations. The communications toolkit includes key messages, social media assets, and other resources and is available online.