Flu shot generic

FILE - This Jan. 23, 2020 file photo shows a patient receiving a flu vaccination in Mesquite, Texas. On Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the vaccine has been more than 50% effective in preventing flu illness severe enough to send a child to the doctor's office. Health experts consider that pretty good. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Even as COVID-19 continues to infect thousands of Americans every day, doctors are preparing for the upcoming flu season.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during the 2017-2018 flu season, an estimated 810,000 people had to be treated in the hospital for the flu or complications from the flu. 

Doctors, while still dealing with COVID-19 patients and complications, are now having to prepare for the eventuality that flu cases will soon begin to rise. Still, though, the flu is something doctors say they have a better handle on. 

"I think the flu is something we can treat," said Dr. Monalisa Tailor with Norton Healthcare. "We have medicines that will help us combat the flu. And we know what the flu looks like ... COVID is a different beast. Flu is just the one we know well."

Even so, doctors are, as they usually do, promoting the flu vaccine as a way to help avoid the illness altogether. At least some are hopeful that COVID-19 safety precautions, such as mask-wearing and social distancing, can help alleviate some cases of the flu if they are extended into flu season. 

"Is this year's flu going to look like the year prior or the year prior or the year prior? I don't know," Tailor said. "I would still encourage everyone to get a flu vaccine to give yourself one first line of defense."

The other issue that creates concern among health care professionals is if this year proves to be particularly bad for the flu season, and COVID-19 infections don't taper off, that could create a burden for healthcare systems. 

"That would be concerning that we would get into that cycle of, 'Hey, do we have enough resources? Do we have enough hospital beds? Do we have enough PPE?'" Tailor said. 

Doctors say studies show the flu vaccine provides protection from the virus for around six months, so Tailor recommends waiting until September or October to get the shot. 

"This is not the season I would say, 'Hey, let's just risk it and continue to do these measures and not this other piece,'" Tailor said. "We have two pieces here that can definitely help us prevent the spread."

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