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Montgomery Co. health officer stresses importance of flu shots for personal, community protection

By Kate Ryan

The Centers for Disease Control is recommending flu shots for everyone 6 months and older as flu season approaches.

According to the CDC, the 2025-26 fall and winter season for illnesses like influenza, RSV and COVID-19 starts in October and runs through mid-May.

Dr. Kisha Davis, the Montgomery County Health Officer, explains that the benefit of getting a flu shot is twofold: “So there’s the benefit to the individual, of decreasing the chance of getting the flu. … There’s also the benefit to the community. So when more people are vaccinated, it’s harder for that virus or illness or whatever the vaccine is for, to jump to other people.”

“That’s why we encourage folks to get the flu vaccine, both to help themselves, but also to help community spread,” Davis added.

She said that’s especially important for older citizens, immunocompromised people and infants who are too young to vaccinate.

Florida recently elected to eliminate all childhood vaccine mandates, making it the first state to do so.

“I will say that it’s concerning to see what Florida is doing in terms of rolling back vaccine mandates,” Davis said.

Noting the high rates of vaccination among residents in the District, Maryland and Virginia, she said, “I do not anticipate that there will be a rollback because of the evidence we have seen” on the effectiveness of vaccine mandates.

Davis said measles cases provide a good example of the protections of vaccine mandates.

“In Maryland, we have a vaccine mandate that kids who are going to school need to have that vaccine,” she said.

When there have been isolated cases of measles, mostly from people who have traveled abroad, “it hasn’t spread and that’s because the vaccine rates are so high in this area. And so we know that those mandates work,” she said.

Asked about coverage for the different vaccines for respiratory illnesses, Davis said, “For flu vaccine, we feel pretty comfortable that insurance companies will continue to cover it,”

But when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines, “the question is around the COVID vaccine and other vaccines where we haven’t gotten that clear guidance from (the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) what insurers will do in terms of coverage,” Davis said.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is scheduled to meet on Sept. 18.

Massachusetts court hears arguments in lawsuit alleging Meta designed apps to be addictive to kids

By The Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts' highest court heard oral arguments Friday in the state's lawsuit arguing that Meta designed features on Facebook and Instagram to make them addictive to young users. The lawsuit, filed in 2023 by Attorney General Andrea Campbell, alleges that Meta did this to make a profit and that its actions affected hundreds of thousands of teenagers in Massachusetts who use the social media platforms. “We are making claims based only on the tools that Meta has developed because its own research shows they encourage addiction to the platform in a variety of ways,” said State Solicitor David Kravitz, adding that the state's claim has nothing to do the company's algorithms or failure to moderate content. Meta said Friday that it strongly disagrees with the allegations and is “confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people.” Its attorney, Mark Mosier, argued in court that the lawsuit “would impose liabilities for performing traditional publishing functions” and that its actions are protected by the First Amendment.
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