SULLIVAN COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) - Across the country, there's a race to see who will come up with the very first vaccine to fight off COVID-19.
But some health officials are saying we need to take advantage of the vaccines we already have to fight off another potentially deadly virus, the flu.
News 10 spoke with a health official on the importance of getting the flu shot in the midst of a pandemic.
We spoke to Kelly Wood Tuesday.
She's a public health nurse at the Sullivan County Health Department.
She says it's not only critical for adults to get the flu shot but their children as well.
She called children super spreaders. That's because they don't take hygiene as seriously as adults do. She added it's the parent's job to make sure they treat the signs and symptoms seriously.
Wood says as adults when we are sick, it's easy to go in our rooms and shut the doors. But children need proper attention.
"We really want to protect them as so they also protect the elderly population, as they go and visit grandparents and immune-compromised individuals. Because children don't always wash their hands, don't always cover their cough, don't always cover their sneeze. Which is all very important in influenza season and as well as in the global pandemic we're under right now," said nurse Kelly Wood.
The Sullivan County Health Department is open Monday through Friday, from 9 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon.
They give flu shots Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings.
Your local health care provider or pharmacy may also offer flu shots.
