Although the COVID-19 pandemic and the highly anticipated vaccines have been at the forefront of many minds this year, the novel coronavirus makes it more important than ever to get a safe, effective vaccine that has been around for a long while: the flu shot.

The flu shot is proven to reduce the chance of contracting and spreading the disease and the more people have received the vaccine in a community, the better chance that community has of as preventing a flu outbreak on top of the pandemic.

And when you start to consider the numbers, you’ll understand why public health officials are so concerned about a flu outbreak on top of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Between Oct. 1, 2019, and April 4, the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control estimates there were between 39 million and 56 million flu illnesses, with 410,000 to 740,000 flu hospitalizations and 24,000 to 62,000 flu deaths.

These numbers are staggering. And it’s hard to imagine how our already overloaded medical system could have the resources to cope with a flu outbreak on top of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here’s an alarming statistic: Of the 69 ICU beds in the U.P., 57 were filled Tuesday, according to a statewide report at michigan.gov/coronavirus.

And the U.P. region reported 76 people hospitalized with either suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 21 of those individuals in the ICU and six on ventilators, according to the state data.

We don’t want to get into a situation where we have high numbers of flu infections combined with the COVID-19, as this could be absolutely devastating to our health care systems and communities.

So we must do all we can to prevent hospitalizations from the flu, as resources are already stretched precariously thin with COVID cases surging region.

And if we want to help ensure there are resources to care for COVID-19 patients, as well as those with other serious conditions, we all need to do our part by getting a flu shot, as well as practicing social distancing, hand washing and other practices to prevent the spread of illness.

We urge you: Get a flu shot.

This is a simple action you can take to save lives and allow our health care workers to focus on fighting a disease that does not yet have an approved and widely available vaccine.

To learn more about how to get a flu shot, call your local health department or physician.

— The Mining Journal, Marquette