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WEEK OF DECEMBER 29, 2022
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Flu cases, hospitalizations on the rise Officials push for vaccinations
BY THELMA GRIMES TGRIMES@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Changing foliage frames the nearby peaks at Golden Gate Canyon State Park in September 2018.
PHOTO BY CORINNE WESTEMAN
Celebrating Colorado’s state parks BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
In honor of Colorado Parks & Wildlife’s 125th anniversary this year, the Clear Creek Courant and the Canyon Courier have featured monthly photo pages celebrating the state’s amazing wildlife and parks. Each page celebrated a different local animal or group of animals, including fun facts provided by CPW. For December and the final photo page of 2022, the mountain newspaSEE PARKS, P4 JoshSpinner- Broker, Owner Local Expert since1999
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Barr Lake State Park keeps with a national tradition of sponsoring a New Years morning 1st Walk around the park. Hearty hikers took part in the guided walk along the lakeside PHOTO BY JOHN CARR despite the cold temperatures and falling snow.
Flu cases are on the rise, and according to state health officials, hospitalizations are higher this year than they have been in the past 10 years. The surge has a variety of causes, including people not getting the flu shot as consistently as in past years. Dr. Ben Usatch, UCHealth ER director at Highlands Ranch Hospital, said COVID vaccinations brought on this onslaught of “mixed emotions” that resulted in other annual shots being affected — flu shots being one of them. “The bottom line is flu vaccines are the best protection to get through the season,” Usatch said. “They do not hit the target right on the head, but they make a big difference.” In reality, said Dr. Reginald Washington, HealthOne chief medical officer for Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Hospital and Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children, with all the flu strains, the vaccine’s effectiveness is between 50% and 70%. But even with those odds, people fare better through the season with the shot that has nothing to do with COVID. “Flu vaccines are not 100% effective,” Washington said, “they never have been. This year, it is 70% effective. People are just tired of being SEE FLU, P2
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