Louisiana is heading into respiratory virus season on the downswing from a busy summer of COVID-19 , when wastewater samples showed some of the nation’s highest virus levels. But health officials caution that COVID is unusual: unlike flu or RSV, it typically peaks twice, once in summer and again around January. That makes fall an ideal time to get a vaccine, especially because newly formulated shots protect against the latest strain.

But this year, new federal recommendations are complicating access. Few drug stores are carrying the vaccine in Louisiana right now, and patients are currently unable to walk in and get a shot, even if they qualify under new the new rules.

That has left doctors fielding questions from patients and personal contacts alike, said Dr. Margot Anderson, an infec

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