INDIANAPOLIS — "We have a lot of respiratory virus season left, so go out and do those things to prevent it because we don't know which direction these numbers are going to go," said Dr. Christopher Belcher, infection prevention medical director at Ascension St. Vincent Indianapolis hospital.
Christmas holiday parties are in the past, but New Year's Eve gatherings are now just days away. For many, masks and social distancing aren't top of mind, but doctors say with the rate of respiratory viruses high this winter, people need to be cautious.
"Influenza is kind of the big dog for a lot of places and settings, causing a lot of issues, but COVID is rapidly catching up. We're on the upcycle. And the holidays, the last month or so and continuing into next week are not going to help. We're going to continue to have competing respiratory viruses," said Belcher.
New COVID-19 cases shot up nationally after Thanksgiving and are staying high, according to weekly data reports from the CDC.
And data from the CDC shows more than 300 people are still dying every day from coronavirus in the US.
Hospitalizations are on the rise around central Indiana and nationally, and many of the new cases involve seniors.
"Age has been one of the strongest predictors of severe illness and death. So there was always this continuum of the older you were, the more likely you were to get into trouble. And for a while that was moderated because older people were more likely to be vaccinated. But now that older people are vaccinated but not boosted and it's been a while, some of that protection has worn off," said Dr. Amy Beth Kressel, infectious diseases physician and medical director of infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship at Eskenazi Health.
Indiana has been lagging behind the US in vaccinations.
Just 55 percent of the state's total population got that initial vaccine series. and only 11 percent of the state is up to date, according to data from the state of Indiana dashboard. Kressel said those numbers are concerning.
"We're not having the surges we had last year but certainly, a lot of people are still at-risk, a lot of people are dying, more so than we ever would have considered acceptable three years ago. And there are countermeasures, there are the vaccines, antivirals, and masks. That is true for both influenza and COVID," Kressel said.
And as influenza and respiratory viruses packed a harder punch, even earlier this winter, Tamiflu has been in short supply in some parts of the country. To help hospitals and pharmacies, the Biden administration says it will release Tamiflu from the Strategic National Stockpile to states that ask for it.
"There have been intermittent shortages of Tamiflu at my hospital," said Kressel. "There have been intermittent supply issues but not severe enough to impact patient care. We've always been able to get what we need eventually. I think the Biden administration's actions will help."
With New Year's gatherings around the corner, doctors are stressing to stay home if you're sick. Even if your COVID test is negative, you could still have the flu or an upper resiratory virus that you could spread to others.
If you have high-risk loved ones or are going to be in a crowd, consider masking up indoors.
And make sure you're caught up on flu shots and COVID-19 boosters to help prevent an infection from getting serious. If you do get sick, talk to your healthcare provider to see if an antiviral for COVID or the flu could help.