Fall brings cooler weather, autumn foliage and, unfortunately, respiratory virus season. From now through May, Oklahoma typically sees spikes in influenza, RSV and COVID-19.
According to the CDC, last year’s flu season (2025-2026) was severe, with 390,000 hospitalizations and 24,000 deaths. The previous season (2024-2025) was even worse, with 710,000 hospitalizations and 45,000 deaths.
Douglas Drevets, M.D., Chief of Infectious Diseases at OU Health in Oklahoma City, says flu season is incredibly hard to predict, so the best approach is to prepare by getting vaccinated. He’s optimistic this year could be milder, but it depends on which viruses circulate.
“If we have a major mutation in the flu virus – so that it’s not a good match for the vaccine – then it can be a bad year,” he says. However, if the same viruses return, most people will have some protection from past infection or vaccination.
Why Preparing Matters
“Most people have to go out of their way to get the flu vaccine or a COVID vaccine,” says Drevets. While some people may have flu clinics available at work, retirees and people working from home have to schedule shots themselves, and it can be forgotten until an epidemic is underway.
By then, he says you may have already lost some of the potential benefit from the vaccine.
Who’s at Risk?
Very young infants, adults over 70, and people with chronic health conditions, especially heart disease, lung disease and severe obesity, face the greatest risk.
“Every year, Oklahoma sees around 2,000 to 4,000 hospitalizations and from 50 to 250 adult deaths from influenza,” says Drevets.
He adds that those numbers likely understate the toll and that the consequences of the flu are worse than how they are categorized. For example, an older adult with heart disease might leave the hospital after a bad case of the flu, then have a heart attack or stroke two or three months later. Flu may have triggered it, but it wouldn’t be recorded that way.
A New Flu Vaccine
This year there’s a new mRNA-based flu vaccine for people over 50. It is more potent and may come with more side effects, but it’s a good option for people with egg allergies.
COVID-19 and RSV
COVID vaccines, like flu vaccines, are updated annually for circulating strains. Getting COVID after vaccination doesn’t mean the vaccine failed, because a new variant may have emerged. Even then, Drevets says, some protection is better than none, as COVID can cause severe illness. Oklahoma still averages 1,000 to 2,000 COVID hospitalizations a year, and the number changes from year to year.
Drevets explains that RSV was long considered mainly a children’s illness, but doctors now recognize that older adults, particularly those over 75 or with lung disease, are highly susceptible. It can be as dangerous for them as a bad flu case. The vaccine is a one-time shot with protection lasting several years. The CDC recommends it for all adults over 75, and for higher risk adults as young as 50.
When to Get Vaccinated
All three vaccines can be given at the same time. Drevets recommends getting the flu and COVID vaccines between Halloween and Thanksgiving, because their effectiveness is strongest in the first two or three months. A shot in September could offer weaker protection if flu season peaks late, in February or March. The timing matters less for the RSV vaccine.
