The Metro Public Health Department announced Tuesday that it will stop offering COVID-19 vaccines, boosters, tests and flu shots on Dec. 31. These services were provided and put in place through the COVID-19 Strike Team, which was established in mid-2020. In more than 1,300 events, before ceasing activity at the end of this year. Additionally, MPHD will not publish weekly COVID-19 surveillance reports, although providers will be required to report cases of COVID-19 to the agency.
COVID-19 vaccines and flu shots, as well as home testing kits, will be available for free at three MPHD clinics by appointment. PCR tests will not be available after January 1st, however.
“While COVID-19 is still a serious problem in our community, the Metro Public Health Department’s response will mirror the way it responds to other serious and endemic diseases,” said Dr. Gill Wright, director of health. “Vaccines and boosters are highly effective in preventing the most serious consequences of COVID-19. We encourage everyone to stay up-to-date on vaccinations to better protect against hospitalization and death from COVID-19.”
The bivalent vaccine has been effective in preventing hospitalization
A study found that Updated bivalent vaccines against COVID-19 To provide 73 percent greater protection against hospitalization in immunocompetent adults 65 years of age and older than those who received the previous monovalent vaccine. It also showed an 84 percent additional protection compared to the unvaccinated.
Wesley Self, vice president of clinical research networks and strategy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, was the lead author and principal investigator of the study, which was released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Center for Acute Illness Hospital Respiratory Virus Research. online research group.
“The results are strong and are showing benefit for bivalent COVID vaccines in the fall and winter,” Self said. “These results support the recent recommendations that all people, especially adults over 65, receive a bivalent booster dose to maximize protection this winter.”
Flu season came early and hit Tennessee hard
The flu season arrived earlier and hit harder than usual, while affecting children disproportionately, according to data reported by Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the Tennessee Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC sent two Epidemic Intelligence Service officers to Nashville in November to work with the state and VUMC to collect data on the flu.
Almost 30% of the 4,633 people tested positive for the flu between November 4 and 18.
participating clinics (including 12 VUMC clinics). The rate was higher among children, with 37 percent of those aged 5 to 17 testing positive. In addition, the hospitalization of children was higher than in previous years.
“It helps the rest of the country to know that, in Tennessee, we’re seeing an early season for respiratory viruses in general, and the flu is part of that,” said Christine Thomas, an EIS officer who works with the Tennessee Department. Health. “Having this knowledge can help prepare health facilities. It also emphasizes the importance of people getting their flu shot every year, especially as activities resume and we’re seeing all these viruses again.”
