Hast Thou Seen the Flu?

This week, some concerns cropped up regarding pre-planning for flu season in Tennessee schools as flu vaccination pods and vaccination days were paused over the summer. Despite the unorthodox approach to this year’s flu season, the Tennessee Department of Health released that they will be kicking off a campaign with Fight Flu Day on November 9th.

Why The Pause?

Advocacy for flu youth vaccination in Tennessee comes with baggage left over from the Covid-19 vaccine campaigns. Fear of  vaccine mandates for teens and children hit an all-time high this summer as Pfizer concluded their clinical studies among 5-11 year olds and began seeking FDA approval for that age group.

Backdrop

The alarm was exacerbated due to some political discourse in July when Tennessee’s top vaccination official, Michelle Fiscus, was fired after dismissing the necessity of parental consent for teen vaccinations. In July, as the political temperature surrounding Covid-19 boiled over, Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey made the decision to ease parents' concerns by ceasing adolescent outreach for any type of vaccinations.

No Solicitation Doesn’t Mean No Flu Vax

Vaccine campaigns targeting Tennessee children and teens in school may have been paused, but the flu vaccine is still readily available. As for the general population, there's been a surge of messaging from top health officials who continue to voice their concerns as they anticipate a more serious flu season.

Flu Enigma

In the mayhem following Covid-19, the flu disappeared from both the public's consciousness and our hospitals. Its disappearance has been categorized as a mysterious side effect of public safety measures such as masking and social distancing. Now, talk of a “twindemic” has emerged as we head into flu season. The concerns come conveniently packaged with the notion that there are fewer precautions in place. It all seems benevolent enough, but are we actually asking the right questions? Curiously, places like Florida—which mostly stayed open during the lock downs of 2020 and 2021—also experienced this mystical zero flu anomaly. Though concerns of a flu spike are prevalent among the top brass, the explaintion as to why the flu disappeared seems elusive. The one-dimensional conclusion leaves behind a multitude questions – questions that deserve further scrutiny and exploration.