Public health officials are scrambling to prevent a “twindemic” — a nightmare scenario in which a severe outbreak of the flu erupts alongside the COVID-19 pandemic
Photo: Kmatta/Getty Images With fall and winter around the corner, and the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths remaining steadily high across much of the U.S., the New York Times reports that public health officials are scrambling to prevent a “twindemic” — a nightmare scenario in which a severe outbreak of the flu erupts alongside the COVID-19 pandemic, overwhelming hospitals, and rendering the novel coronavirus even deadlier than usual.
Public health officials are therefore trying to make the flu vaccine available early and widely. The CDC, for example, which usually purchases 500,000 doses of flu vaccines a year for uninsured adults, has ordered an extra 9.3 million doses to distribute this year. And in August, the University of California system announced that it would be requiring all members of the UC community — students and staff alike — to get a flu vaccine before November 1, 2020.
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