Stony Brook To Host Zoom Forum On Covid-19 And The Flu

STONY BROOK, NY — The Stony Brook University Program in Public Health is hosting a virtual conversation on Tuesday with the Suffolk and Nassau health commissioners who will answer the public’s questions and inform them of updates on both the COVID-19 and flu vaccines.

The free Zoom webinar starts at 7 p.m.

The event titled “The Flu and COVID: A Conversation with Your County Health Commissioner” will feature Suffolk Health Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott, as well as Nassau Health Commissioner Dr. Lawrence Eisenstein. It will be moderated by Lisa Benz Scott, director and professor of the Program in Public Health at Stony Brook University.

The commissioners will answer questions about COVID-19 and flu vaccines, as well as provide advice for maintaining health. Topics they will touch upon include:

• How to prevent the spread of flu and COVID-19 in 2021
• What the health departments in each county are doing to help Long Islanders
• What residents should know about vaccine safety, the Delta variant, and how other variants can be prevented
• Why booster vaccines are important and which residents should get them
• How to safely receive both the flu and COVID-19 vaccine

“As the flu and COVID-19 are expected to circulate at the same time this season, getting a flu vaccine is more important than ever,” officials stated in a news release. “Although the flu vaccine will not prevent COVID-19, it will help decrease the risk of you and your family getting sick and needing flu-related medical care.”

About 2,000 New Yorkers die of seasonal flu and pneumonia each year, which can develop as a complication of the flu, officials said. Over 56,000 New Yorkers have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began in 202o, said officials, adding that “vaccination is the best way to protect against both the flu and COVID-19.”

This event is co-sponsored by the county’s Department of Health Services, Nassau County’s Department of Health, the Stony Brook Program in Public Health, Department of Family, Population, and Preventive Medicine at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. It is supported by the Stony Brook University Alumni Association.

Questions can be submitted in advance and real-time Spanish translation will be available with Héctor E. Alcalá, PhD, MPH, assistant professor in the Program in Public Health of the Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine of the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University.

To register visit, https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_-SUVMjnORoWTfYU52MS-Gw