Don't Forget To Get Your Flu Shot!

Dr. Dave A. Chokshi urges everyone to get a flu shot. (Photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

BROOKLYN – This year, flu season has come amidst a pandemic, which is why elected officials and medical professionals are strongly urging people to get their flu shots before it’s too late.

“Now we have a new challenge, a new challenge upon us this time of year, every year at this time. But this one is different. It is a powerful disease,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at his press conference this morning. “It’s one we should never take lightly, but it’s one that we do know how to fight even more because we have a vaccine. And of course, I’m talking about the flu.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Getting a flu vaccine is more important than ever during 2020-2021 to protect yourself and the people around you from flu, and to help reduce the strain on healthcare systems responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Here are some benefits provided by the CDC for the flu vaccination:

Flu vaccination can keep you from getting sick with flu.
Flu vaccination can reduce the risk of flu-associated hospitalization for children, working age adults, and older adults.
Flu vaccination is an important preventive tool for people with chronic health conditions.
Flu vaccination helps protect women during and after pregnancy.
Flu vaccine can be lifesaving in children.
Flu vaccination has been shown in several studies to reduce severity of illness in people who get vaccinated but still get sick.
Getting vaccinated yourself may also protect people around you.

Dr. Dave A. Chokshi, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene noted that this year’s flu vaccine could very well be the most important one you’d get.

“Just as we wear our masks to protect one another, the flu shot not only protects you, it also helps to protect others as well,” he said. “As a doctor, as well as a father, I wouldn’t ask New Yorkers to do anything I wouldn’t do myself. I get my flu vaccine every year. And I’ll be sure to get my baby daughter immunized as well.”

To find out where you can get vaccinated, click here. You can also call 311 or text “flu” to 877-877.

“Here’s another example of something everyone can do. Just go get that flu shot. It only takes a few minutes. It’s easy. It’s quick,” de Blasio said. “Make sure the people in your life know how important it is. This is something we can do to protect all of us and to move us forward.”