The Jewish General Hospital has reinstated a mask mandate for medical staff as the flu season has begun much earlier than usual this year, prompting fears that some elderly and vulnerable individuals might not get their vaccines on time.

“It’s not a bad thing to reinstate wearing masks in a hospital because you have sick people by default and you have high-risk patients,” Dr. Karl Weiss, chief of the division of infectious diseases at the Jewish General, told The Gazette.

“We’re getting influenza cases at a time of the year that is relatively early. Usually we start the flu season in November and in December we have the acceleration phase, with the peak just after the holidays. But we’re seeing more cases now than usual.