On Sunday, Economy Minister Silvio Schembri said that the seasonal Influenza vaccinations began arriving in Malta.

Thousands of people each year opt to take the vaccine, thus reducing the chance of them actually getting the flu.

This year, the flu vaccine is more important than ever. The Coronavirus has similar symptoms to that of the flu, thus this will likely lead to an increased number of people asking to be tested for the Coronavirus. While the flu season normally puts a strain on Malta’s health sector, that coupled with the Coronavirus could create a number of issues.

The government is trying to immunize as many people as possible against the flu this year, in order to reduce the stress on the health care system and, at the same time, reduce the number of people with symptoms so similar to the Coronavirus.

The government is right to urge people to take the flu vaccine this year. Health Minister Chris Fearne had said that the government ordered 200,000 flu shots this year, and will begin administering the shots on 11 October. Each town and village will have a centre from which the shots can be taken, he had said.

The flu vaccine does not eradicate the possibility of one getting the flu, but does significantly reduce it. This would reduce hospitalisations and free up GPs in terms of treating the flu.

Indeed it will, however, be very difficult to predict what kind of effect the flu season is going to have on Malta, combined with the pandemic.

So one could still end up in a situation where offices might go on lockdown for a day due to an employee getting the flu, until that employee’s Covid-19 test is known. Indeed when schools reopen, such a situation could also cause a number of scares.

Malta has seen a high number of deaths of elderly people with Covid-19 recently, showing just how vulnerable the elderly are to the virus. The more people can do to ensure that the health system does not become overwhelmed the better, as more focus could be placed on Covid patients.

At this stage, everyone understands the importance of ensuring that the vulnerable sectors in society are not exposed to the virus. There are many things people can do to help the situation. The first is to ensure that their elderly relatives and protected from the virus, but at the same time ensure that they do not end up being lonely. Calling such relatives up frequently could help alleviate such a feeling.

Covid-19 is not going away any time soon. Once a vaccine is found, the situation will improve, but until that point, the most people can do is follow the health authority guidelines, take precautions and be aware of the consequences their individual actions can cause.

The government must not drop the ball like it did in summer. The consequences of those errors in judgement have been deadly for some.