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State officials urge flu shots before peak winter season

North Carolina health experts are urging residents to get a flu shot in anticipation of a winter spike in cases. 

Officials with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services say they’ve seen a decrease in flu vaccinations compared to previous years. They’re urging flu shots before the end of October for all residents six months and older.

According to a department news release, flu season typically peaks during the winter months, and protection is considered especially important for high-risk individuals including people over 65, children younger than five, pregnant women, and those with underlying medical conditions.

State Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Tilson says the flu vaccine is important not only to combat the virus but to protect your overall immune system as COVID-19 still poses a threat. To that end, Tilson is promoting the notion of “layering up,” meaning getting an updated COVID-19 booster shot when you go in for your flu vaccination. Tilson stresses that the free updated boosters target the original coronavirus strain as well as the now-dominant omicron strains. 

An online vaccine resource guide is available to help find a provider in your location.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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