As the nation continues to face COVID-19, it’s also preparing for flu season. Some doctors said while this year could be milder than years past, people are still encouraged to get a flu shot.KCRA 3 spoke with Dr. Dean Blumberg, UC Davis chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, about whether the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to drive an increase for influenza vaccines and whether that demand could lead to a flu shot shortage.Q: Is there a possibility of a flu shot shortage in the U.S. this year?Blumberg: This year, U.S. manufacturers projected they’re going to have between 194 and 198 million doses available in the U.S. That’s an increase of 20 million from last flu season. And over the past 10 years, that’s an increase of almost 50 million. It’s really an increase of availability. And yet we know every year those doses are not used and the immunization rate is only about 50% in the U.S. We’re hoping to get it higher this year.Q: Are more people expected to get flu shots this year due to COVID-19 concerns?Blumberg: That’s the question. We really don’t know. On the one hand, there’s been a lot of attention paid to respiratory infections because of COVID, so everybody is fully aware of how deadly they can be. On the other hand, people have not been seeking medical care except for emergencies and they really reduce their health care visits because they’ve been concerned that the health care visit itself may result in risking infection.Q: How long after getting a flu shot before it starts working?Blumberg: It takes about two weeks after getting the flu vaccine to develop the immunity. Now is a perfect time to get influenza vaccine. In most years, influenza activity peaks in February or before February. The vaccine, the immunity from the vaccine lasts about six months. Getting the vaccine now will optimize your immunity throughout the influenza season.