Can you ever remember dealing with the many challenges
we are facing today? More than ever, it’s so important we
face reality and cope with these challenges.
Coping strategies take many forms, but we can start by using our own emotional and mental resources to address issues confronting us. Draw upon the strengths that work best for you: Faith, trust, patience, resolve, positive attitude, discipline. Don’t give in, don’t get discouraged, and make sure you shore up your coping skills head on.
And, yes, as of this mid-September writing, COVID-19 is still a tremendous threat to our physical and mental well being. It won’t go away without us practicing all the preventative measures outlined by our healthcare professionals.
Most of these are easy to carry out: Be mindful of personal hygiene (frequent hand washing, using anti-bacterial gel, sanitizing wipes and sprays, wearing masks); distance from others and don’t gather in large groups; minimize unnecessary visits to non-essential businesses. (The internet has proven to be a great option to bring the outside world to our doorstep.)
BUT, here’s another threat on the horizon: THE SEASONAL FLU!
If COVID-19 cases increase and hospitals are stressed, more people getting the flu shot means fewer people who need to be hospitalized for flu.
Protect yourself, your family, friends, neighbors, community and health care system by getting a flu shot. The Food and Drug Administration’s website at fda.gov shows their recommendations for quadrivalent and trivalent vaccine formulations that include specific A and B strains, depending on the vaccine production method used (egg-based or cell-or-recombinant-based). Your health care professional can provide you with information regarding this year’s flu vaccine and the different A and B strains of flu addressed. This year, finally, there are approved quadrivalent high-dose adjuvant vaccines avail- able for people over 65.
The BEST TIME to get a flu shot is NOW.
Stay vigilant, practice preventive health and safety measures, resolve to see the challenges of this time in our lives pass, and be better PREPARED.
—Kent Wellbrock
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