Public health officials in Massachusetts are encouraging commonwealth residents to get their flu and COVID shots as respiratory disease season gets underway.
As the days grow colder and darker, the school year continues, and get-togethers shift indoors to close quarters, state officials say it’s once again time to get vaccinated.
“We have a safe and effective way to protect yourself against respiratory viruses, and that’s to go out and get vaccinated,” Massachusetts Commissioner of the Department of Public Health Robbie Goldstein told WAMC. “There’s vaccines for flu, there’s vaccines for COVID- Those vaccines are available all across Massachusetts. For those who are 18 and younger, they’re free at the pediatrician’s office or community health center, and for everyone else, they’re covered by insurance or they’re free through local public health or at any of the community health centers across Massachusetts. So people should take advantage of this really effective, really safe way to protect themselves and to protect their community.”