Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said she believes the United States is "ripe" for a "severe" flu season this fall and winter.
While speaking to NBC News, Walensky reasoned that "not everybody got flu vaccinated last year, and many people did not get the flu. So, that makes us ripe to have potentially a severe flu season."
Among the regions projected to experience a rash of flu-related illnesses, Walensky said the South and south-central portions of America could be hardest hit over the next few months.
Last month, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House's chief medical adviser who was also the country's leading epidemiologist during the COVID-19 pandemic, said health officials and U.S. citizens should brace for a "pretty bad flu season."
According to a recent survey from the National Foundation of Infectious Diseases, 49% of respondents stated they plan to get a flu shot for the 2022-23 flu season — even though nearly 7 in 10 also acknowledged a flu vaccine would likely be the best measure for preventing flu-related hospitalizations and death.
For the same survey, 58% of respondents admitted they'd consider wearing a mask during the flu season.
"With a potentially challenging flu season ahead, I urge everyone to protect themselves and their families from flu and its potentially serious complications," Walensky said in a recent press release.
As Newsmax chronicled this week, President Joe Biden said the COVID-19 public health emergency would continue through Jan. 11, in anticipation of more viral illnesses than normal this winter.
The public health emergency was initiated in January 2020 and renews every 90 days.
Biden's Thursday announcement runs in contrast to a recent interview on "60 Minutes" when the president stated the COVID-19 pandemic was "over."
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