SACRAMENTO, California — As Northern California heads into flu and COVID season, the Food and Drug Administration has just approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine to better protect against all the different variants.
Sonya Frausto, the owner of Ten Acres Pharmacy in Sacramento, said this comes at a time when she's seeing an uptick in people testing positive for COVID.
She said, according to the number of calls they're receiving, COVID and the flu are top of mind.
"I'm not a sick person, but I really worry about my family and my employees," said Pauline Jimenez, who was at Ten Acres Pharmacy getting vaccines.
Fraustro said they've noticed an increase in COVID cases, and she's expecting numbers to keep rising heading into the fall and winter months.
"I think what we're going to see is a lot of COVID and flu illnesses across Sacramento, around California. And the reason why is obviously when the flu season happens, which is January and February, it's already the winter season, so we have a lot of people getting together," said Frausto.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that about 40% to 70% of people vaccinated against the flu last season were less likely to be hospitalized because of the flu or related complications.
People are expected to be in close contact with holiday get-togethers, and that's when the viruses tend to go from one person to another.
Frausto said that's why being protected is key.
"Patients can definitely get their flu vaccine and COVID vaccine at the same time. They might experience a little bit of sore arm — usually is the most common side effect — but some patients can feel a little bit of fatigue as your body is starting to prepare its arsenal to take care of patients," said Frausto.
The pharmacy also has about three to four people a day calling in and asking about the newest COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna and Pfizer.
Frausto thinks they could be available for patients in the next few weeks.
Anyone still on the fence about getting a vaccine shouldn't be afraid to ask their pharmacist or doctor questions, Frausto said.
"Don't worry about what everybody says. The CDC says get it, you get it. And if it's not mandated, you use your common sense," said Jimenez.
The CDC said September and October remain the best times for most people to get their flu vaccine.
The most concerning question from the pharmacist now is how much the new vaccine is going to cost people who may not have insurance.
A CDC advisory panel is set to issue recommendations Tuesday on who needs the updated shots.
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