AUSTIN, TX — Given the confluence of the coronavirus with the flu season, medical officials at Central Health-affiliated CommUnityCare Health Centers on Wednesday urged its patients to get a flu vaccine as soon as possible.

“Getting a flu vaccine has never been more important,” Dr. Alan Schalscha, chief medical officer for CommUnityCare Health Centers, said in a prepared statement. “A severe flu season in the midst of a deadly coronavirus pandemic could overwhelm our health care system. Flu vaccines and face masks are two proven defenses that all of us need to embrace, especially as people start gathering indoors during the fall and winter and during the holiday season.”

COVID-19 and flu are both highly contagious, potentially fatal respiratory illnesses caused by different viruses. Similar to COVID-19, flu spreads through droplets when one talks, coughs or sneezes. Symptoms of flu and COVID-19 are also similar, officials noted, so it is