Pres. Biden might have said the pandemic is over, but that doesn’t mean COVID still isn’t a threat for our at-risk and elderly community members. 

It’s also not a helpful thing to claim just as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local public-health agencies are rolling out updated boosters that provide better levels of protection against omicron variants. And, the omicron boosters are now available at many local pharmacies and through county and state vaccination clinics. 

So, if you are eligible for the vaccine — especially if you are in a higher-risk population group — we’d strongly encourage you to consider getting your omicron booster this fall.

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Colorado experienced what, hopefully, was its last bad wave of high cases and hospitalizations in late 2021 and January of this year. Although COVID continues to be surprising in when and how it peaks, our thought is a general population boosted against omicron variants will help us more easily avoid future hospitalization waves.

If you have questions or doubts about the omicron booster, we’d encourage you to talk with your doctor or nurse practitioner and consider whatever advice they provide you. While there are plenty of other avenues for information, your primary-care provider will likely be the most knowledgeable about you and your medical needs than anyone else.

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Another shot to consider this time of year is the seasonal-flu vaccine. Flu season typically runs from late fall into early winter, and the CDC predicts that this season could be worse than average, particularly for children. Australia had its worst flu season in five years, which is what those predictions are based on and are a good reason to consider a flu shot. Again, the good news is that flu vaccines are readily available at your local pharmacist. They are also often free, depending on your health insurance or coverage. 

These two shots will not only help protect you, but can also stymie community spread and make it that much more of a normal winter, where we can focus on the holidays, slopeside fun and life as normal. We think those are great reasons to get vaccinated and/or boosted.

The Post Independent editorial board members are Publisher Darcy Carstens, Editor Peter Baumann, Managing Editor/Senior Reporter John Stroud and community representatives Mark Fishbein and Danielle Becker.