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Thanksgiving is full of traditions around the dinner table, and for many families, around the TV, too, as the holiday weekend is traditionally full of intense college football rivalry games: Iron Bowl, The Game, Backyard Brawl, Civil War, Duel in the Desert, Apple Cup, Crab Bowl. It’s no different here in Las Vegas, where the 2016 Battle for Nevada between the Wolf Pack and the Rebels is played Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium.
But before kickoff, there are two important questions that need to be asked: Did you get your flu vaccine? And Wolf Pack blue or Rebel red?
Students, alumni, faculty/staff and fans, it’s time to roll up your sleeve, take one for your team and show your school pride. By getting your flu shot, you can help your team win another prize: the Fremont Syringe for the most vaccinated fans in the Nevada Flu Vaccine Challenge. The Battle for Nevada game may take hours, but getting vaccinated takes just a few minutes. Not sure where to go? At vaccinefinder.org, residents input their ZIP code and receive a list of locations nearby offering influenza and other vaccines.
Years of research have shown vaccination is the best way of preventing influenza — for ourselves, our family members and anyone we interact with in our daily lives. By getting vaccinated you’re ensuring those who are too young, have a comprised immune system, are undergoing cancer treatment or are pregnant are protected too. They’ll be thankful you got your flu vaccine, and I’ll be thankful too.
Nevada traditionally has had low flu vaccination rates — we ranked last in 2014. Our rates are slowly increasing, and we had fewer pediatric deaths during the 2015-16 season than the season prior. A flu vaccine is the ultimate act of paying it forward — one that keeps on giving throughout the season.
Successes like these translate to healthier and protected communities. At Immunize Nevada, we’re grateful for physicians whose offices vaccinate, public health and community clinics servicing the underserved, pharmacies extending their scope of practice, school nurses helping students start school on time, funders providing financial resources, and donors wanting to better their communities.
As you gather with family and friends to eat turkey and watch your favorite rivalry game, I hope you are thankful too — thankful to live in a community protected from disease, a community that cares about its most vulnerable members and a community full of health care superheroes making a difference each day.
You can be a flu superhero too. Log on to influencenevada.org, enter your flu shot information and declare your team loyalty. Nevada is counting on you.
Heidi Parker is the executive director of Immunize Nevada.
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