Courtesy Image An illustration of the coronavirus provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

ATLANTA — The District Health Department No. 4 board on Tuesday discussed ordering of new, updated COVID-19 vaccines that were recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends anyone six months and older gets the updated vaccine for the upcoming fall and winter seasons. The vaccines, manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna, combat an omicron variant labeled XBB.1.5 and other variants on the rise.

Dr. Josh Meyerson, medical director of the Health Department, said that while some people may feel like they can handle any COVID-based illness without the vaccine, others should consider the protection of those that they are in contact with.

“Most of us have some immunity and are less likely to get severe disease now because we’ve been previously vaccinated, or we’ve had previous infections, or – for many of us – both,” Meyerson said. “You might say, ‘I don’t need it. I’m healthy, young, and my kids are fine.’ But you may have a loved one in a nursing home or a loved one that you bring Sunday dinners to. You don’t want to be the one who gave it to them.”

Meyerson added that the Health Department is just now able to order vaccines from the manufacturer and has not received any yet. He expects the vaccine to come around when flu vaccines are ready for scheduling and would recommend anyone wanting to receive a vaccine to get both in one appointment.

COVID-19 vaccines were previously available for anyone with no charge, because the cost to order any was covered by the federal government.

Now, the Health Department has to pay for the orders, meaning patients will be charged for the vaccine.

The shot can be charged to insurance companies and adults without any insurance can use the CDC’s Bridge Access Program to receive the vaccine for free. Children eligible for the Vaccines for Children program can also receive the vaccine from any place that is enrolled in the program.

“It’d be perfectly reasonable for you to get this vaccine,” Meyerson said. “Will it completely prevent you from getting COVID or giving it to someone? No, but it will reduce your risk.”

The District Health Department No. 4 board on Tuesday also:

∫ Voted to give a 20-day termination notice of the lease to the landlords of the department’s old Atlanta office. The older office’s roof collapsed on July 22 and a clause in the lease allowed the Health Department to terminate its contract with the landlords if the hazardous conditions were not fixed within 60 days. The vote allowed the landlord to fix it in 20 additional days, but insurance officials and the landlord said repairs will take months.

The Atlanta office was moved to a temporary location to a building on the corner of Main and State streets.

∫ Voted to receive and file the 2021 Community Health Assessment. The assessment was conducted from 2018 to 2021 and showed that Northeast Michigan needed help in access to healthcare, economic security, equity, mental health resources, substance use resources, safety, wellbeing, transportation, healthy weight resources, and COVID-19. Because the assessment finished in 2021, COVID-19 was the highest concern at that time.

∫ Voted to adopt the 2023 Northeast Community Health Improvement Plan. The Health Department acknowledges the concerns seen in the 2021 assessment and plans to improve the three top priority areas seen in the report: Safety and wellbeing, substance use disorder resources, and mental health resources.