Respiratory virus season is arriving, once again, and the La Plata County Public Health Department is urging residents to avail themselves of immunizations available at low or no cost.
The department has the annual flu vaccine, an updated COVID-19 vaccine and Respiratory syncytial virus immunizations.
Pregnant women, infants, some children and adults 60 and older should receive the RSV vaccine to prevent serious illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and LPCPH. Adults need just one dose of the vaccine, while the duration of protection provided by maternal and infant vaccinations differs, according to CDC recommendations.
LPCPH spokesman Todd Macon said consensus is that the updated COVID-19 vaccines ought to be considered much like the influenza immunizations, that is a yearly occurrence each fall. Anyone who has not had a COVID-19 vaccine within the last two months is eligible, although those who recently had an infection are not high-risk and might consider waiting up to three months.
Patients can receive all three vaccines on the same day.
The county public health department, still in its first year after the dissolution of San Juan Basin Public Health, now has contracts established with most major insurance providers.
“We are now taking insurance, so … (vaccinations are) covered, and if it’s not covered by their insurance, then we also have programs for underinsured and uninsured people to make sure that they get their vaccinations,” Macon said.
According to the LPCPH data dashboard, reported hospitalizations for COVID-19 have remained low all year, while outbreaks in high-risk settings occurred weekly through August.
Free COVID-19 tests are available at covidtests.gov. Vaccine appointments are available Monday through Thursday and can be made by calling 247-5702.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
