We all love the tasty Thanksgiving turkey and scrumptious stuffing. But safe to say no one wants to bring COVID-19 home with the leftovers. Ugh, right?

But all the key coronavirus indicators in Colorado are pointing toward a rise in cases, and hospitalizations are as high as they’ve been since the start of 2023, with millions of thousands of Coloradans gathering and traveling over the holidays. 

Health officials, infectious disease experts and doctors say common sense precautions like getting a coronavirus vaccine shot now is their best advice to steer clear of COVID-driven congestion, cough, aches and other unpleasantries. 

Read more at CPR.

Ayear ago, hospitals across the country noticed a disconcerting trend. Despite winter still being a few weeks away, many were experiencing a shortage of pediatric hospital beds due to an early surge in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). As a result, parents who needed to take their children to the emergency room faced longer-than-usual wait times. Some children were being sent to hospitals in other states. But the brutal season ended on a somewhat hopeful note: a variety of vaccines, including a monoclonal antibody treatment called Nirsevimab, were in development and would likely be available the following year.

Read more at Salon.

As the United States heads into the cold-weather months, respiratory virus season has also arrived, with cases of influenza and COVID-19 likely to increase.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently recommends that everyone 6 months and older stay up-to-date and get a flu vaccine and a COVID vaccine, and that it’s safe to get both at the same time.

“For flu and COVID, not only does the vaccine reduce…the chance of getting sick, it certainly – even for those people who get sick – reduces their chance of getting severely sick,” Dr. Cameron Wolfe, a professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at Duke University School of Medicine, told ABC News.

Read more at ABC.

Yes, the COVID-19 pandemic was declared over by the federal government, but immunizations right alongside flu shots are now being presented as the best way to protect you and your family as we creep closer to winter. 

State epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy said while the flu follows a known pattern, (and COVID seems to be following the same one) there is not enough data to say when the next COVID outbreak would hit.

“There is a more typical respiratory virus season when we think about influenza and RSV, we think typically the season being October through May with really the greatest likelihood of transmission probably occurring sometime November through February,” Herlihy said. “But we know that they’re all unpredictable, and when it comes to COVID-19, we’re still really learning more about the patterns of transmission and the seasonality of that virus.”

Read more at CBS Colorado.

The global COVID-19 vaccination campaign saved 2.4 million lives in 141 countries and could have saved about 670,000 more had the vaccines been distributed equitably.

That’s according to a new working paper from researchers at the University of Southern California’s Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics and the Brown University School of Public Health.

The National Bureau of Economic Research circulated the working paper, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, for discussion and comment this week.

The benefits of the COVID-19 vaccines are far-reaching by multiple measures, said co-author Christopher M. Whaley, an associate professor of health services, policy and practice at Brown.

Read more at Brown University.

There are shortages of an RSV vaccine for infants due to supply issues.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a notice last week citing “limited availability” of the long-acting monoclonal antibody immunization Beyfortus (nirsevimab).

The product is recommended by the CDC for preventing disease from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in children up to 24 months of age.

Read more at Fox News.

With health experts recommending Americans get two (or even three) different vaccines this cold and flu season, you may find yourself rolling up your sleeve a couple of times soon. 

You may also notice your arm hurts for a day or two after getting your shots. Why is that? 

Fortunately, you aren’t alone. 

For all three of the vaccine health experts are recommending this season — the flu shot, the newest COVID booster, and the RSV vaccine for older Americans — the CDC notes pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site are among the most common side effects.

Read more at The Hill.

Older adults who received last year’s COVID booster and a high-dose version of the flu vaccine in the same visit may have a potential increased risk of stroke, according to a new FDA-funded study.

Experts urged that the results were preliminary and may be explained by other factors such as the fact that older adults are already at a higher risk for stroke due to their age.

“There is no need for panic, and emphatically no need to stop giving COVID and flu shots at the same time to older adults,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, while he reiterated that more research is needed.

Read more at ABC.

There are many good reasons to get a flu shot this fall, but here’s one that might surprise you: It could protect your brain.

Recent research suggests that regular vaccinations against influenza and other infectious diseases such as shingles, pneumococcal pneumonia, and tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (whooping cough) may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

“Vaccines are the great public health success story of our generation,” said Paul E. Schulz, professor of neurology and director of the Neurocognitive Disorders Center at the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, who led several of the studies. “They keep you safe from any number of infections, many of which can be life-threatening. And now it appears there is another tremendous benefit, this one against a disease that is among the most feared.”

Read more at The Washington Post.

While the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone 6 months and older should receive the annual flu vaccine, most people haven’t – at least not yet. Only 22.7% of adults and 20.8% of children have gotten the flu shot this fall, according to CDC data from October 14.

Why is it important for everyone eligible to receive the flu shot? How effective is it? Do people who have had the flu before still need a shot? Why is it necessary every year? When is the best time to get it? And what else should people do to stay healthy as the weather gets colder?

To help us with these questions, I spoke with our CNN Wellness medical expert, Dr. Leana Wen. Dr. Wen is an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. She previously served as Baltimore’s health commissioner.

Read more at CNN.