Cook County officials and health leaders rolled up their sleeves for two shots Friday and called on residents to do the same as flu season looms and COVID-19 cases surge across the Chicago area.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and several Cook County commissioners urged residents to make an appointment to get the updated flu and COVID-19 vaccines, expressing concern over last year’s low uptake. Only 54% of children and 48% of adults got the annual flu shot last fall and winter, while vaccination rates for COVID were even worse at 15% for children and 22% for adults.
“We still have some work to do,” said Dr. Erik Mikaitas, interim CEO of Cook County Health. “As we’ve seen during a recent surge of cases, COVID’s not going away, and this flu season’s already looking serious.”
While state health officials aren’t tracking COVID cases as closely as they did during the early years of the pandemic, data from city wastewater samples suggest infections have been on the rise in Chicago since June.
Preckwinkle underscored the idea of herd immunity and the responsibility to get vaccinated not only for the individual’s immunization, but for the health of the community.
“You want to be healthy, but you also want the person you ride the bus or the train with, the person you meet in your office — you want everyone you come in contact with to be vaccinated, to be in really good health because that improves your chance of maintaining your own good health,” Preckwinkle said.
Commissioners emphasized the safety and efficacy of the vaccines during a news conference at Stroger Hospital, calling on residents to resist conspiracy theories and misinformation to the contrary.
Vaccinated people can still come down with COVID, but their immune systems are much better prepared to fight off the virus and keep cases mild. And it’s critical to keep up to date with the latest vaccines approved earlier this summer by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is tweaked to target the latest strains.
“Congratulations, you made it through last flu season. But that was last flu season,” said Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck, chief operating officer of the county’s Department of Public Health. “What you need to know is last year’s vaccine, that’s done. This year, there’s a new vaccine for the new strains of the virus in circulation, and that’s the vaccine you need to get.”
Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck, chief operating officer of the Cook County Department of Public Health, speaks during a news conference at John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County in the Illinois Medical District, where officials and medical professionals encouraged people to get their updated COVID-19 and flu vaccines Friday, Sept. 20, 2024.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Commissioners said the board is working to increase accessibility to health care, and ensuring the widespread vaccination of minority communities is part of that. White adults are still getting vaccinated at a higher rate than Black and Hispanic adults, but the gap is progressively decreasing, Preckwinkle said.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, as I said, around health disparities,” Preckwinkle said. “Culturally tailored messaging and increasing access are important steps to continue to reduce this gap.”
Vaccines are covered under most insurance plans, and free vaccines are available at Cook County Health locations for people without insurance, Mikaitas said.
Many members of the group got the jab at Stroger Hospital in their push for others to follow suit.
While clinical trials for a combined COVID and flu vaccine have been in motion, the two shots are still separate. It’s unclear when the combined shot could be available, but a dual shot would likely to increase vaccine uptake, according to Dr. Claudia Fegan, Cook County Health’s chief medical officer.