(Washington, DC, Thursday, October 27, 2022)– As we head into cold and flu season and respiratory diseases surge, now is the time to get up to date on vaccinations. While isolating and taking precautions against COVID-19 in 2020, Americans missed an estimated 37 million routine adolescent and adult vaccine doses. To date, we are not yet back on track with protecting ourselves from serious infectious diseases that can be prevented with vaccination − diseases like pneumonia, influenza, COVID-19, shingles and more.

Older adults especially need to make sure they are protecting themselves. Immune systems naturally weaken with age, which puts senior at higher risk for certain infectious diseases. Chronic diseases also become more common with age and make seniors more vulnerable to infectious diseases and their complications. This makes vaccination especially important.

While there are not yet vaccinations available for all respiratory diseases that we are seeing this cold and flu season—like Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), there are steps we can take to keep ourselves and our loved ones healthy. Recognizing the symptoms of RSV is an important step in curbing its spread.