UPDATED: How to stay healthy for the holidays: Stay up to date on COVID-19 vaccines | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Trisha Young
December 28, 2023
With the season for family gatherings and celebrations fast approaching, doctors advise people to get vaccinated to stay safe and healthy over the holidays and throughout the winter season.
Although the national COVID-19 public health emergency ended in May, experts warn that the virus is all but over.
“It’s easy to think COVID’s not around or ignore it,” said Ajay Sethi, professor of Population Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Do you have feedback on Milwaukee NNS's reporting? Take our survey to let us know how we're doing!
According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services or DHS, the number of COVID-related hospitalizations has increased to over 400 hospitalizations this month. This is in comparison to the state’s all-time low of the pandemic, which occurred in July of this year with fewer than 60 people hospitalized.
Sethi emphasized the importance of everyone, especially immunocompromised people, such as the elderly and disabled, getting vaccinated this winter season, or “respiratory virus season,” as he calls it.
Since people will be spending more time indoors, often with others, illnesses like COVID are much more likely to spread.
Vaccinations protect against life-threatening illnesses and even death, said Dr. Heather Paradis, Milwaukee Health Department medical director.  “And (they) help against the spreading of the virus too,” she said.
Despite this, just 10.8% of Milwaukee County residents have received at least one dose of vaccines, which is slightly lower than the rate of vaccinations for the rest of the state, according to DHS.
COVID strains are still circulating and mutating, Paradis said. But most vaccines, even if they aren’t the newest ones on the market, can help protect against the most recent strains.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, has reported, however, that getting the most updated vaccines will work the best against current strains of the virus.
People opting to get the vaccinations can now choose between getting the mRNA vaccine and the Novavax vaccine, which are similar to vaccines that were introduced early on in the pandemic.
Both vaccines work about the same and last an equal amount of time, Sethi said.  (Learn more about the differences here.)
Doctors recommend people get vaccinated or boosted every six months. Sethi said people can wait from two to six months after a COVID infection to get boosted.
Paradis encourages people to get boosted when they’re COVID free and feeling well enough to do so. It’s also safe to get flu shots and COVID vaccines at the same time, she said. And many clinics offer both.
For those holding off on getting the COVID vaccine because of the fear of potential side effects, Sethi has the following message:
“The benefits of vaccinations far outweigh the disease itself.”
Monday: 3 to 6 p.m.
Tuesday: 1 to 4 p.m.
Wednesday: 3 to 6 p.m.
Friday: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Check out Healthy MKE’s updated map and list here. This site will also let you know about upcoming vaccination events where rides can be provided.