Cold, COVID and flu: MetroWest health departments gear up for flu season

Sore throat, runny nose and slight fever? This fall, local health departments are gearing up for the triple threat: flu, the common cold and COVID-19.

Prioritizing vulnerable populations for flu vaccines and COVID-19 boosters — seniors, senior living communities, nursing homes and the homebound — and people that typically deal with sick people like public safety staff, teachers and school staff is key according to Hopkinton Board of Health Director Shaun McAuliffe.

“We want to maintain a continuity of operations in our school district so we can continue to improve on this voyage to a new sense of normality,” McAuliffe said. “We want to get our teachers and school staff vaccinated — and then we’ll start working on the kids.”

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McAuliffe said the way the town approaches flu season has changed a lot compared to before the pandemic. Hopkinton did not employ nursing staff before 2020, for one thing, and the town hadn’t run flu clinics in a few years.

“We realized that if there were ever a dual pandemic — both flu and COVID — we were going to be in a world of hurt,” McAuliffe said. “We’re just trying to make it as easy, or accessible, as possible, because if we’re removing those barriers, we should get greater vaccination rates.”

The Health Department in Hopkinton put in large orders for flu vaccine, although the town ended up sending some doses back due to lack of interest last year. Not so this year, according to McAuliffe, and the COVID-19 boosters are also proving popular.

He noted there hasn’t been as much influenza spread in town in the past few years. CDC data, too, indicated that influenza numbers were down, although they ticked up last flu season.

“I think because everybody was distancing, focusing on good hygiene, staying home when they were sick and masking — now that all of those restrictions have been dropped this year, we’re a little concerned,” McAuliffe said.

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When the Daily News spoke to McAuliffe on Tuesday, he was about to head out to a Bivalence vaccine clinic, and the town has already put another order in to replenish its supply.

“Going from zero requests for boosters over the summer to having to place almost weekly orders, that’s all looking good. I’m excited that people are really taking this seriously and taking the opportunity to protect themselves against the omicron variant,” he said.

Back to basics

The coronavirus and influenza spread in similar ways, and their spread can be curbed through being cautious for either, according to Franklin public health nurse Alisha Sullivan.

“We just have to remember to go back to the basics,” Sullivan said.

The basics? Social distancing, washing hands, getting vaccinated and wearing face coverings.

“If you don’t feel good and you’re able to, it’s best to stay home,” Sullivan said. “I know that’s easier said than done because we all have to work.”

She noted that Franklin has free test kits for those who want to rule out COVID-19 if they have cold-like symptoms. McAuliffe said Hopkinton may look into stocking flu testing kits as well.

McAuliffe said that all the dry air and people in enclosed spaces is optimal for the spread of disease. He's preparing by having test kits and masks at home.

“It’s always good for people, when you have those cold symptoms, before you chalk it up to a cold, I would try to rule out that it may not be influenza or covid,” Sullivan said, especially now that many people are returning to their pre-pandemic routines. “If someone is really not feeling good, it is important to stay home if possible.”

When should I get vaccinated?

Hudson Director of Public health Lauren Antonelli said the town was hoping to vaccinate about 200 people this weekend at a vaccine clinic at Hudson High School, which is open to anyone whether or not they have insurance.

“We’ll be dealing with the flu — and then of course COVID is still very much out there,” Antonelli said, and encouraged residents to take advantage of free test kits.

Although flu season can last for a while, Sullivan encouraged residents to get vaccinated soon.

“Now is a good time to start: September, October — flu season,” Sullivan said. “When September hits, it’s already upon us.”

Upcoming clinics will be posted on town websites and on social media.

McAuliffe joked he was going to try to expand messaging even further than ever before.

“I’m going to start TikTok — which is terrifying — but that’s what it takes these days,” he said.

Researchers are still exploring the short- and long-term effects of the virus on various populations, including children. A paper was released just last week about the coronavirus crossing the blood-brain barrier and causing mental health issues like depression and brain fog.

McAuliffe acknowledged that people might be feeling hopeless or powerless right now and stressed that one of the best things residents can do is make time to get vaccinated.

“It’s been a long almost three years now — but we have complete control. We can choose to vaccinate, we can choose to wear face coverings, we can choose to distance and avoid large crowds,” McAuliffe said. “If you’re doing all that, you’ve pretty much done everything you can to insure yourself a safe winter, and you’ve done everything you can to protect your family.”

Why are health departments understaffed?

Another issue facing cities and towns in MetroWest this flu season is lack of staff.

“Everybody got burned out,” McAuliffe said. “Those that had to the opportunity to retire, retired. Those that had the opportunity to move on to jobs that maybe weren’t as stressful took those opportunities.”

One of the largest cities in the region will soon have almost no staff in its public health department, for example. Framingham’s public health nurse retired this year and has not been replaced; Health Department head Alexandra DePalo is heading to the nonprofit sector in October and the city has not announced a new hire. Milford's Health Department has no health officer or director of public health.

The state Department of Public Health has a job posting for a local regional health program coordinator based in Marlborough posted more than a week ago.

But municipalities have been coming together to serve the region. Franklin is a member of the Metacomet Public health alliance, a joint effort with Wrentham and Norfolk established in 2021.

"Me and the nurses in Norfolk and Wrentham, we all work together to help each other out," Sullivan said. "They've helped at my COVID clinics and they're going to be helping my flu clinics and I help them for theirs."

It wasn’t just the long hours handling a pandemic that took their toll on health department staff, according to McAuliffe.

“There were a whole bunch of health directors, myself included — people would show up in front of our houses. They’d photograph my kids, my wife, my cars,” he said. “You’d get calls every other month from the Police Department about doing risk assessments on people who are writing to you daily.”

McAuliffe stayed because he generally likes his job, and it lets him spend more time with his family during non-crisis times. But he was getting offers to return to his previous roles. And heading up a health department is a job that requires a lot of skills —among other duties, McAuliffe is the burial agent, handles environmental issues like E. coli contamination, manages school lunch programs as well as monitoring community health and communicable diseases.

McAuliffe said there are some public health conferences coming up where health professionals will be asking the state department about what to do about understaffed health departments.

“It’s a good job. I just think the pandemic took its toll, and people took the opportunity to move on, escape the stress,” he said. “Those of us that are here, we’re trying to figure out what the new system is going to look like.”

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Flu season: When to get vaccinated, COVID holiday travel pandemic