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2 Your Well-Being: Avoiding COVID-19 as virus season reaches its peak

Everyone wants a holiday season free of COVID-19. A Cone Health expert explains best practices to do that.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — COVID-19 metrics have looked good in Guilford County for several weeks now. The area consistently ends up in the green category on the weekly CDC map. That means it's at the lowest level.

Everyone wants it to stay that way going into the peak of respiratory virus season. Dr. Cynthia Snider, the Infection Prevention Medical Director at Cone Health, explained how to do that.

Snider expects cases to tick back up. She does not foresee a massive surge like in previous years because many people have some level of natural immunity or they've been vaccinated. 

Recently, health officials authorized an updated booster for people 12 and up. It targets the omicron variant and other subvariants. She expected it to make a big difference because it has an efficacy rate of about 90%.

"The perfect time to get it is now," Snider said.

The shot takes about two weeks to take effect, so she recommends getting it sooner rather than later if you want protection for the holidays.

Snider said people need to wait two months after their initial vaccine series to get the updated booster.

Right now, Snider said current guidance does not recommend someone test prior to holiday gatherings. However, she said if there's a known exposure, getting tested is the responsible thing to do.

At-home test kits remain accurate in detecting the newer variants and are used to see if someone has the virus.

Cone Health has several places where someone can get vaccinated. You can find all locations here.

It's also still a great time to get the flu shot. Snider said it's safe to receive both shots at the same time.

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