Express & Star comment: Do all you can to avoid the flu
Of the things to avoid this winter, getting flu should be near the top of the avoidance list.
Even in "normal" times flu is potentially deadly dangerous and can cut a swathe through the old and vulnerable.
The new normal is living with the deadly coronavirus epidemic, which even during the temperate months has claimed, or been implicated in, the loss of not far short of 50,000 British lives.
Currently there is no proven vaccine, so there is no protection beyond the various measures which are really ways to dodge the virus by maintaining social distancing, wearing face masks, and generally being careful around fellow human beings.
The whole world is waiting for a vaccine. If only there were a jab we could take, everybody is saying, we could avoid all this pain and misery which is disrupting lives, hitting the economy, and making the taking of much yearned-for holidays problematic.
Remember those days before coronavirus took a real grip when some people were seeing it as being just like flu and wondering what all the fuss was about?
With flu there is a jab available. And for those who are inclined not to take it very seriously, and don't feel a need to bother, the lethal prospect of being hit by Covid-19 on top of a dose of flu should concentrate minds.
Even in a best case scenario, coronavirus will not have gone away this winter, and in an entirely plausible worst case scenario we shall see a second wave of the virus which will inevitably lead to a grievous toll.
To avoid such a grim eventuality, all weapons will need to be used.
Health bosses across the region are urging people more than ever to have their flu vaccination. There is cause for concern as new figures reveal that flu jab rates were below the target for those at risk in the region last year.
Generally the old and vulnerable already appreciate the risks they are facing, but this has to be a collective community fight to do our utmost to slam the door shut on anything which undermines our resistance to the deadly threats.
This year is not a good year to skip the flu jab. And why would you anyway?
