(HARTFORD, CT) – During a visit to Connecticut on Monday, U.S. Surgeon General Vice Admiral Jerome M. Adams – the nation’s top doctor and an appointee of a Republican presidential administration – told Connecticut residents that vaccines are safe and strongly advocated for their use, while warning that states that have laws providing for non-medical exemptions for vaccinations are at “higher risks” of preventable diseases.
The Surgeon General made the following comments during a media briefing at the Connecticut Department of Public Health Laboratory in Rocky Hill:
QUESTION: Can you comment on the importance of flu vaccines? Is that because if people are not sick, their immune systems – I mean obviously they do not have a vaccine for coronavirus and it sounds like they won’t for some time.
U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: A couple of really important things – vaccines are one of the most effective public health tools of the last half century, and I am quite frankly concerned and was concerned before we had this coronavirus situation about the erosion of vaccine confidence and lowering of vaccination rates across our country. We know that the states that have non-medical exemptions for vaccinations actually are at higher risks and tend to have more vaccine-preventable diseases occurring in their states, which not only has a health impact, but has an impact on the local economy. We almost lost our measles eradication status as a country last year. So number one: vaccinations work, they are safe.
Now, flu vaccinations. It is not too late to get your flu vaccine. We are in the midst of a really, really bad flu season. Eighteen thousand people have died from the flu. Again, we don’t know which direction this coronavirus situation is going to take, but I would be shocked – I would be absolutely shocked if we get anywhere near the hospitalizations or deaths from coronavirus that we’ve had from the flu in this country. The flu is a great risk to communities right now and you can protect yourself with getting a flu vaccination. That does a couple of things – if you get the flu, you’re going to be sick. And then, if you have coronavirus superimposed on top of that, you will be more likely to have a negative outcome. If you get the flu, you will take up hospital resources. Those are hospital resources that are not available to respond to the coronavirus. There are many good reasons to get a flu shot, it’s not too late. Go to CT.gov to find out where you can get a flu vaccination in this state.