New York has started to see a spike in COVID-19 case numbers ahead of the fall season, when those numbers and flu cases typically rise. In June, Moderna revealed promising study results for its combination COVID-19 and flu vaccine.

“It makes a lot of sense to try to combine the two because I think COVID is definitely evolving into a seasonal respiratory virus,” said Stephen Thomas, the director for the Upstate Global Health Institute.

Thomas said COVID peaks arrive in the fall and winter, which corresponds with flu cases.

“When people are coming in to get their annual influenza shot, they can also – and should still be getting – their annual COVID shot. So to put them together makes a lot of sense. One needle versus two,” Thomas said.

He said he believes the combo vaccine will be annual and tailored to the COVID and flu circulating during that time.

“They found that the immune responses to the combination was better than each of the individuals on their own,” Thomas said.

With August being National Immunization Awareness Month, Oneida County Health Director Dan Gilmore said the combo vaccine is a positive step forward.

“Vaccines are one of the greatest achievements of public health in the past 100 years. It’s been beneficial for untold numbers of people for both keeping them healthy and actually increasing longevity. So, it’s very important to stay current on vaccines if an individual chooses to,” said Gilmore.

With 2020 being such an unprecedented time, Gilmore says he believes the state is now in a good place.

“There’s no difficulty obtaining test kits, then when it comes to a vaccine, anybody that would like a vaccine can obtain one," Gilmore said.

Pfizer and Novavax are also developing combo flu and COVID shots, but Moderna is the first to report positive phase three results.