By Tabitha Evans Moore
EDITOR & PUBLISHER

LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — Moore County residents can get a free flu shot at two Lynchburg locations on Tuesday, Oct. 20, as part of the Tennessee Department of Health’s annual Fight Flu TN event.

The Moore County Health Department — located at 251 Majors Boulevard — will offer shots from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. A second clinic will run from 4 to 6 p.m. at Lynchburg Church of Christ — located at 376 Main Street —giving people who work during the day a chance to stop by afterward.

The vaccine is free for anyone six months and older.

Now in its ninth year, Fight Flu TN will offer free shots at more than 200 sites across the state, including every local health department. State officials say the event also doubles as a readiness exercise, testing how well local health departments can deliver services to their communities on a large scale.

In announcing the event, State Health Commissioner Dr. John Dunn urged Tennesseans to consider the vaccine, noting that “your decision to get the flu shot can help prevent others from getting sick.”

THREE STRAIN VACCINE THIS YEAR

Flu season in the United States generally starts in the fall and peaks between December and February. Over decades of tracking, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found February to be the most common peak month.

Because it takes about two weeks after vaccination for the body to build protection, the CDC recommends everyone six months and older get a flu shot by the end of October, ahead of the winter surge and holiday travel.

The new season is already underway. The CDC’s October 9 surveillance report formally closed out the 2025–26 season and marked the start of 2026–27. Nationally, activity is rising but still low, with the earliest increases on the West Coast.

This year’s vaccine has been updated for all three flu strains it covers, including a change aimed at the H3N2 “subclade K” strain that spread widely last season.

Anyone can get the flu, but some people are far more likely to become seriously ill, be hospitalized or die. Health officials say those at highest risk include adults 65 and older, young children, especially those under 5, and pregnant women. People with chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, and heart or lung disease and those with weakened immune systems are also especially at risk.

Early hospital data this fall already show adults 65 and older being admitted for flu at the highest rate of any age group, with admissions among children under five also climbing.

TENNESSEE HIT HARD LAST YEAR

Tennessee was among the harder-hit states during the 2025–26 season. By late January, the CDC rated flu activity in the state “very high.” The Department of Health’s weekly report for Jan. 25–31 showed 6.9% of outpatient visits statewide were for flu-like illness — more than double the state’s 3.1% baseline.

By mid-February, the state had logged 36 flu outbreaks since the season began Sept. 28, 2025, compared with 16 at the same point the season before. Some Middle Tennessee school districts canceled classes as illness spread among students and staff, and a second wave in late February sent the share of lab samples testing positive for flu sharply higher.

Tennessee confirmed its first child flu death of the season in late January. The season before, 2024–25, the state recorded six pediatric flu deaths. Tennessee’s weekly flu reports track deaths among children only; adult flu deaths are not tallied individually in those reports.

Nationally, the CDC counted at least 198 children who died of flu during 2025–26, a number that could still rise as late reports come in. Among vaccine-eligible children whose status was known, roughly 85% of those who died had not been fully vaccinated. By late February, the CDC estimated the season had caused at least 26 million illnesses, 340,000 hospitalizations and 21,000 deaths across the country.

Along with vaccination, the Department of Health recommends washing hands with soap and water, and covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue or the bend of an elbow. Those experiencing flu-like symptoms should also stay at home to protect others.

Flu symptoms can include fever, cough, sore throat, fatigue, headache, muscle aches, and a runny or stuffy nose. People in high-risk groups should call a health care provider early if symptoms start, since antiviral medicines work best when begun soon after illness sets in.

For more information or to find other free shot locations, visit health.tn.gov/fightflu or call the Moore County Health Department at (931) 759-4251. •

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