The Lowell Board of Health at it’s Nov. 4, 2026 meeting. (Courtesy Lowell Telecommunications Corp.)
by Melanie Gilbert
Lowell – To avoid bringing more than pumpkin pie to your holiday gathering, Department of Health and Human Services Director Lisa Golden recommends that residents get their flu shot now.
“Two weeks out from Thanksgiving is the time to get to your flu clinic so that you are covered,” Golden said during the Nov. 4 meeting of the Board of Health at City Hall. “Flu is here.”
Flu is caused by a virus that spreads easily from person to person. When people with flu cough or sneeze, the flu virus is in the wet spray that comes out of their nose and mouth. The flu virus can also get on objects you touch.
The Massachusetts Virtual Epidemiologic Network is the web-based disease surveillance and case management system used by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and local boards of health to track reportable infectious diseases, including the Type A seasonal influenza.
Golden told the board members that “When we opened up MAVEN on [Nov. 2], I think we had 35 new flu cases over the weekend.”
Influenza-like illness activity has five categories: Minimal, low, moderate, high and very high, and is based on the percentage of outpatient visits to providers.
Although MPH’s influenza reporting dashboard, which was last updated Nov. 5, rates the state’s current estimate of influenza-like illness activity as low, cases are rising across the commonwealth. Hospitalizations associated with influenza, while low, are also rising.
Historically, flu cases are low leading up to November, with peak activity taking place during the winter months of December through February, before tapering off into the spring and summer months.
Influenza can be a very serious disease, with complications that can sometimes require hospitalization, or even cause death.
There have been no pediatric deaths this season, but seven adults have died due to influenza. Three of those deaths took place in the last week of October.
It’s early in the season, but those mortality numbers are trending in negative territory. Flu deaths were at their highest level in 2024-2025 with 455 adult deaths. In 2025-2026, adult deaths were 356.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, everyone 6 months and older in the United States, with rare exception, should get a flu vaccine every season. This “universal” recommendation has been in place since 2010-2011.
Flu vaccines cause antibodies to develop in the body about two weeks after vaccination. These antibodies provide protection against flu illness.
All flu vaccines for the 2026-2027 season will be trivalent vaccines, designed to protect against three different influenza viruses, including two influenza A viruses and an influenza B/Victoria virus.
“We are giving flu shots,” Golden said. “We did increase the clinics that we have.”
The Health Department is offering clinics on Tuesdays, Nov. 10 and 17, from 3:30 to 6:30 pm. Appointments are strongly encouraged, but walk-ins are welcome and may be accommodated, though they could involve a wait time.
To schedule an appointment, call the Health Department at 978-674-4010 or visit www.lowellma.gov/1853/Vaccine-Clinic.
The Board of Health next meets in the second-floor chambers of City Hall on Dec. 2 at 6 p.m.
