Prepare For The 2024-2025 Respiratory Season
Author: Tannis Hargrove, ADVC
Prepare for the 2024-2025 Respiratory Season
Tannis Hargrove
ADVC
The U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has issued its recommendations for the 2024-2025 respiratory season.
This year, ACIP is recommending everyone six months and older receive the 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible. ACIP also recommends adults 60 to 74 years of age with particular health risks and all adults 75 and older receive one lifetime dose of RSV vaccine.
Influenza immunizations are now available. ACIP recommends receipt of the flu shot beginning in mid-September and through late October, to ensure protection through the end of respiratory season, usually toward the end of April.
ACIP recommends COVID-19 and influenza vaccines for everyone 6 months and older.
The influenza, COVID and RVS vaccines may be given all at once, but for those who prefer separate vaccine appointments, there is no wait time between the three vaccines (and no wait time if separate COVID and flu shots are desired).
More information is available at the ACIP website: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/index.html.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will begin surveilling national influenza activity Oct. 5. During the 2023-2024 respiratory season, about 35 million cases of flu occurred nationwide; about 400,000 people were hospitalized, and an estimated 25,000 died.
According to the latest COVID data from the CDC, the United States as of Sept. 9 had a 16.3 percent COVID test positivity rate, and 2.3 percent of those diagnosed with COVID visited emergency rooms. Of all deaths in the country, 2.6 percent were being attributed to COVID. The week ending Aug. 17 saw U.S. residents hospitalized at a rate of 4.6 per 100,000 population.
Like influenza, COVID has a great negative impact on those whose health is already compromised. This includes the elderly and those living with disabilities.
The Aging and Disability Vaccination Collaborative (ADVC) is a national effort to get people vaccinated against COVID, influenza and RSV. Part of the project is to remove barriers preventing older adults and people with disabilities from getting vaccinated.
In 21 counties in Western and Central Montana, ADVC is promoting various vaccine clinics, and facilitating transportation to and from clinics, in-home vaccinations, and outreach and education.
The University of Montana’s Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities has established its own ADVC project and has partnered in these immunization efforts with Western Montana’s two centers for independent living, Summit Independent Living and Ability Montana. The project is funded by USAging (https://usaging.org), an agency that was funded for a similar national vaccination project by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living.
With supervision, UM pharmacy students are available to administer the project’s vaccinations and assist with outreach and education.
In addition to various clinics in the 21 Western and Central Montana counties, immunizations against influenza, COVID and RSV are also routinely available from primary care providers, federally qualified health centers, local health departments and pharmacies. More information about pharmacy vaccination locations may be obtained at https://www.vaccines.gov.
Medicaid pays or reimburses for COVID and flu shots provided by in-network providers or pharmacies; Medicare Part B pays or reimburses for flu and COVID, and Part D does the same for RSV. Private insurers are required to cover all three immunizations, in-network, without co-payments.
More information about the ADVC project in Montana may be obtained at the Rural Institute’s website at: https://www.umt.edu/rural-institute/partnership/aging-and-disability-vaccine-collaborative.php; Ability Montana’s website at https://www.abilitymontana.org; and Summit Independent Living’s website at https://www.summitilc.org.
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