Leah Hampson Yoke and Tamara Brining: Don’t neglect flu vaccinations

As the world battles COVID-19, summer has turned to autumn, carrying away the smoke and bringing in crisp fall air.

Even with these refreshing changes, the pandemic continues and with it comes the flu season. The medical community, not just in Spokane, but the entire world, including physician assistants (PAs), are concerned for your health, as many in our community have avoided routine health checks and preventative care due to concern for contracting COVID-19 in community medical settings. Vaccinations rates have rapidly decreased and with this comes concern that many will avoid getting the flu vaccine.

There have been declines in vaccination rates during the past eight months of the pandemic secondary to lockdown, social distancing and concern for COVID infection. New York City, overrun by COVID-19 in March and April, reported that in those two months of shutdown, vaccinations for children older than two declined by 91%. A national survey by Orlando Health found that 2 in 3 parents were afraid to take their children in for vaccinations, despite 84% of those same parents believing that vaccinations were necessary to protect their children from disease.

Washington State is not exempt from this decline. As reported by the Washington State Department of Health, vaccination rates in children ages 0-18 in March were 30% lower when compared to the same time periods in 2015-2019. This trend continues worldwide, with recent reports showing worldwide vaccination rates dropping to 70%, the lowest they have been in years.

As COVID-19 infection rates slowly increase, the flu season is also upon us. Typically, flu vaccine delivery is easy and ubiquitous. This year, many of these normally convenient options are disrupted including pharmacy options, walk-up flu shot clinics, or even primary care provider access.

It may take more planning or even more time, but it has never been more important. Many local facilities in Spokane recognize the importance of this as well and are offering convenient and creative methods of flu vaccine delivery in safe ways.

At this time, our health care system cannot afford another disease outbreak, particularly one that is vaccine-preventable, like influenza. We all have a duty both to keep our immunizations up to date and to encourage our friends and family to do the same.

This is an important message that PAs across the United States are joining together to share as we celebrate PA Week – annually observed from Oct. 6-12. There are more than 140,000 PAs in the U.S., practicing in every state, and in every medical setting and specialty.

The COVID-19 pandemic has only amplified the need for our health care expertise. According to research from the American Academy of PAs, half of all PAs have tested, treated or diagnosed COVID-19 patients. We have been serving on the front lines of this pandemic for months and are intimately familiar with the concern for an outbreak of vaccine-preventable disease in the context of a global pandemic. Furthermore, PAs nationwide have been serving our communities for decades and have a wealth of knowledge to help our patients navigate these difficult times. We are advocates for your health and well-being. Because of this experience, we are the best health care group to encourage our patients and the public to practice healthy lifestyles and to get their flu vaccinations.

The challenges our health care system will face next are unknown, but PAs are up to the challenge. What we do know is that the flu will come this year, as it always does, and it is in our best interest as individuals and as a nation to fight with one of the most important weapons we have on hand: the flu vaccine.

Leah Hampson Yoke is an infectious disease PA at the University of Washington and Fred Hutch currently practicing in Seattle, and is a board member of the Washington Academy of PAs. Tamara Brining is an 11-year emergency medicine PA and eight-year orthopaedic surgery PA with recent expansion to orthopaedic trauma and tumor surgery, currently practicing in Spokane. She is the current Region 1 director and member of the Washington Academy of PAs.