With Thanksgiving just two weeks away, people who are eligible for an updated Covid-19 vaccine booster but still haven’t received the shot will need to roll up their sleeves Thursday to get as much protection as possible before the holiday.
Health officials are worried about a possible surge in respiratory illnesses this winter – including Covid-19, flu, RSV and rhinoviruses – and they are urging people who are not up-to-date on their Covid-19 shots to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
“The way it makes protection is to create these proteins, which we call antibodies, that then circulate in the bloodstream. Well, that can’t be done with a snap of the finger. There’s a biological process that takes place,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.