The typical peak for Florida's flu season comes in February, which means there's still time to get one

Health

The typical peak for Florida's flu season comes in February, which means there's still time to get one

WFSU | By Regan McCarthy

Published January 16, 2023 at 10:00 AM EST

In this 2020 photograph, captured inside a clinical setting, a health care provider places a bandage on the injection site of a patient, who just received an influenza vaccine. The best way to prevent seasonal flu, is to get vaccinated every year. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends everyone 6-months of age and older get a flu vaccine every season.

Florida is about three months into its official flu season, but there are still about four months left. And Pharmacist and co-founder of Salvatore Giorgianni says the season鈥檚 peak hasn鈥檛 come yet.

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e seeing is a fairly typical pattern. A rise, a decline and another bump early in the year. The peak of flu season really is traditionally, and I think it鈥檚 going to be that way this year too, in early February," Giorgianni says.

Giorgianni says anyone who wants to get vaccinated shouldn鈥檛 wait. It takes a couple of weeks for a flu vaccine to become fully effective. He also cautions that being vaccinated against COVID-19 doesn鈥檛 mean you鈥檙e protected against the flu. Giorgianni says that鈥檚 a question he hears frequently.

鈥淐OVID vaccination does not protect you against flu. Flu vaccination does not protect you against COVID anymore than it would give you protection against measles, mumps and rubella," Giorgianni says. "They鈥檙e very, very different types of vaccinations for very, very different types of viruses.鈥�

The latest shows flu cases in Liberty and Jefferson Counties are already on the rise.

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The typical peak for Florida's flu season comes in February, which means there's still time to get one