As much as no New Yorker wants it to be true, COVID-19 is still around and making people sick. After a bump in cases and hospitalizations this summer, health experts now say it’s time to get ready for a potentially disruptive autumn and winter.

Their advice on the most effective way to prepare? Get the new COVID vaccination this fall.

Earlier vaccinations and infections have granted us some degree of protection, explained Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. But there’s a loss of immunity over time. Meanwhile, if you’ve had COVID before and didn’t feel too bad, that’s not necessarily what will happen the next time you get sick because of new variants, he explained.

WNYC host Sean Carlson spoke with science reporter Sarah Sloat about what New York City should expect from the COVID-19 vaccine rollout this year.

Click "listen" in the player to hear their conversation. Read the full story at Gothamist.com.