Surveillance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows the highest levels of respiratory illness were reported in Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas for the week ending October 8. Earlier this week, the CDC reported only half of Americans got a flu vaccine during the 2021-2022 flu season. Long term, CDC found data showing that flu hospitalization rates were nearly 80 percent higher among Black adults than White adults from 2009-2022. In a rural-urban comparison of vaccine uptake in Florida, researchers found no significant association between residing in rural counties and not receiving a flu vaccine. Instead, their findings showed that increasing age, higher education, and having health insurance had a positive association with flu vaccine use. Locations for flu vaccines in almost every county can be found at vaccines.gov.
