(Image Credit: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

COLD AND FLU SEASON

Impending holiday gatherings prompts seasonal shot reminder from health professionals

Dec 11, 2025 | 5:46 PM

KAMLOOPS — Heading into the height of holiday party season, medical professionals are once again reminding people to get their seasonal respiratory vaccinations.

This week, B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry issued a statement explaining that while the province is seeing a new strain of H3N2 that is not as well-matched to the expected strain in the vaccine – the updated flu shots for this year still provide good protection against H1N1 and Influenza B.

Interior Health says the Thompson-Cariboo-Shuswap region is heading into a time of year when cold and flu infections ramp-up, often circulated through indoor gatherings. And the health authority is urging people to book their flu and COVID booster shots.

“Young children, elderly, of 65 years old and above, people who have chronic diseases or people who have weakened immune systems to get the vaccines,” Dr. Wenzhen Zuo, a medical health officer with Interior Health, told CFJC.

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“And also for their family members and loved ones to get them too so they can protect themselves too.”

Vaccination appointments can be booked online, or over the phone using BC’s Get Vaccinated system, or directly through public health clinics, and local pharmacies.