How Early Can You Get A Flu Shot

You Are Eligible For A Covid

For most people who are eligible for both the flu jab and COVID-19 booster, they will have to attend 2 appointments. It is important that you do not delay your flu jab in the expectation that you can have it alongside the COVID-19 booster. You need to have your flu jab before flu starts to circulate. If you are offered both vaccines at the same appointment it will save you having to attend a second time. It is safe to have them both together.

Where Can I Get An Influenza Vaccine

Influenza vaccines are provided at a wide variety of locations across the province, including:

• Pharmacies .
• Doctors’ offices
• Travel clinics

Services vary by location. You can use our influenza clinic locator to find an influenza vaccine clinic near you.

To find a pharmacy offering the influenza vaccine near you, please visit this link. You may be able to book your influenza vaccine online or by phone, and some pharmacies are accepting walk-ins.

What Are The Benefits Of Flu Vaccination

There are many reasons to get an influenza vaccine each year. Below is a summary of the benefits of flu vaccination and selected scientific studies that support these benefits.

• Flu vaccination can keep you from getting sick with the flu.

• Flu vaccination can reduce the risk of flu-associated hospitalization for children, working-age adults, and older adults.

• Flu vaccination is an important preventive tool for people with chronic health conditions.

• Flu vaccination has been associated with lower rates of some cardiac events among people with heart disease, especially among those who had had a cardiac event in the past year.

• Flu vaccination can reduce worsening and hospitalization for flu-related chronic lung disease, such as in persons with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

• Flu vaccination also has been shown in separate studies to be associated with reduced hospitalizations among people with diabetes and chronic lung disease.

• Flu vaccination helps protect women during and after pregnancy.

• Flu vaccines can be lifesaving in children.

• Flu vaccination has been shown in several studies to reduce the severity of illness in people who get vaccinated but still get sick.

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Will We Ever Have A 2

Pairing flu shots with the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, a second dose of an mRNA vaccine, or a booster, will make vaccination appointments one and done for many people.

In the future, the process could be even more streamlined. As soon as next year, you might be able to get the flu and COVID-19 shots as a single jaban advancement that will hopefully improve the uptake of both vaccines.

At least one company, Novavax, is working on a combination vaccine. In June, that the vaccine being tested may be a viable immunization strategy. While those results were promising, the study has yet to be peer-reviewed.

These results demonstrate the promising opportunity for vaccination, which may improve the uptake of both vaccines, said Gregory M. Glenn, MD, president of research and development at Novavax.

What The Flu Shot Does

The flu shot is designed to help your body fight off the influenza virus when you are exposed to it. It is one of multiple ways to prevent spreading the flu. The flu is spread by droplets, so being near an individual with the flu can easily lead to exposure to the virus. These droplets can also survive for a short period on objects, so touching a door handle or another object after a person infected by influenza can also lead to exposure.

The flu vaccine helps your body fight off the virus, so that you do not develop the flu after being exposed to a sick individual. People can spread the flu virus before they become ill as well as during their illness, so exposure during the flu season is very common.

It is important to remember that the flu can be spread up to 24 hours before symptoms appear, so the idea that you will just stay home if you are sick means you can spread the flu for a full day before you actually know you are ill.

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Yes You Can Get These Shots At The Same Time

When the COVID-19 vaccines were first released, the timing was a concern. Experts recommended not getting vaccinated for anything else for a certain amount of time before or after getting vaccinated for COVID.

But you no longer need to figure out how to space out getting a seasonal flu shot and a COVID shot, regardless of which dose of the COVID series youre getting.

It used to be the case that we would advise people to separate the COVID shot for two weeks before or after any other vaccine, saysDr. Darvin Scott Smith, MD, chief of infectious disease and geographic medicine for Kaiser Permanente in Redwood City, in California. Thats no longer the directive.

Over time, as millions of people received doses, experts gained more knowledge about the COVID-19 vaccine. They were able to look at whether the timing of vaccine administration was an issue, explains David Souleles, MPH,director of the COVID-19 Response Team at the University of California, Irvine.

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There are no timing concerns now, he says.

Flu season typically starts in the fall, with cases of flu beginning to ramp up in October. Peak flu season usually occurs between , although flu activity can last through May, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .

How Flu Vaccine Virus Strains Are Selected

Every year, in late February or early March, before that years flu season ends, the FDA, the World Health Organization , the CDC, and other public health experts collaborate on collecting and reviewing data from around the world to identify the flu viruses likely to cause the most illnesses during the next flu season.

Following that process, the FDA convenes its vaccines advisory committee, consisting of outside experts, to discuss the WHO recommendations and to consider which flu viruses are expected to circulate in the U.S. The committee also reviews data about which flu viruses have caused illnesses in the past year, how the viruses are changing, and disease trends for the U.S. The FDA takes that information into account before it selects the virus strains for FDA-licensed manufacturers to include in their vaccines for use in the U.S.

The closer the match between the virus strains chosen for the vaccine and the circulating strains causing disease during flu season, the better the protection that the flu vaccine provides. Although the vaccine and viruses may not be an exact match in some years, that does not mean the vaccine is not benefiting people. Available data show that the vaccine can reduce the severity of illness in people who get vaccinated but still get sick.

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Who Can Have The Flu Vaccine

The flu vaccine is given free on the NHS to people who:

• are 50 and over
• have certain health conditions
• are pregnant
• are in long-stay residential care
• receive a carer’s allowance, or are the main carer for an older or disabled person who may be at risk if you get sick
• live with someone who is more likely to get infections
• frontline health or social care workers

When The Flu Vaccine Starts Working

Once you receive your flu shot, it takes 2 weeks for your body to develop antibodies that provide protection.

Its important to remember that during this period, youre still vulnerable to becoming ill with the flu.

During that time, you should be extra careful to:

• practice good hygiene
• avoid touching your nose or mouth whenever possible
• avoid crowds if flu is circulating in your community

These precautions are exponentially more important while COVID-19 is still a factor. You can develop the flu along with other respiratory infections, so protecting yourself and others is important.

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Flu Vaccination Winter 2021 To 2022

People who are most at risk from the complications of flu are recommended to get a flu vaccine every year.

This winter it is especially important with flu and coronavirus both in circulation. Research shows that if you get flu and COVID-19 at the same time you may be more seriously ill.

You dont need to wait to be invited to have your vaccine, if you are eligible you can make an appointment at your GP surgery or ask any pharmacy that provides the NHS service.

What Vaccines Protect Against Flu

For the 2020-2021 flu season, CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccination for everyone 6 months and older.

• Flu shots can be given to your child 6 months and older.
• The nasal spray vaccine can be given to people 2 through 49 years of age. However, certain people with underlying medical conditions should not get the nasal spray vaccine.

Your childs doctor will know which vaccines are right for your child.

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Who Should Not Receive A Flu Shot:

Most people should be vaccinated for influenza each year, But some people should not be vaccinated, or should not receive some types of influenza vaccines, depending upon things such as their age, health and whether they have certain allergies.

Information about who cannot get a flu vaccine and who should talk to their doctor before getting a flu vaccine is available at Who Should & Who Should NOT Get Vaccinated.

When Should I Get Vaccinated

• You should get a flu vaccine before flu viruses begin spreading in your community since it takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body and provide protection against flu. Make plans to get vaccinated early in the fall, before flu season begins. CDC recommends that people get a flu vaccine by the end of October. However, getting vaccinated early is likely to be associated with reduced protection against flu infection later in the flu season, particularly among older adults. Vaccination should continue to be offered throughout the flu season, even into January or later. Children who need two doses of vaccine to be protected should start the vaccination process sooner of vaccine to be protected should start the vaccination process sooner because the two doses must be given at least four weeks apart.

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Can I Get The Influenza Vaccine And Covid

You can get a COVID-19 vaccine and a flu vaccine at the same time.

Theres a potential of an increase in mild to moderate adverse events when more than 1 vaccine is given at the same time.

Children can also safely receive other vaccines any time before, after or at the same time as their COVID-19 vaccination. If your child has recently received another vaccine , its best to let your immunisation provider know so they can correctly assess any side effects.

As with any other vaccine, vaccination will be deferred if youre unwell. If you experience a side effect such as fever following vaccination, other vaccines will not be administered until the side effect has resolved.

Who Should Not Get The Flu Shot

Very few children should NOT get a flu shot:

• Babies under 6 months of age. Although the vaccine is not harmful to babies less than 6 months old, it does not work.
• If your child has a serious allergy to thimerosal , a thimerosal-free vaccine should be given.

The influenza vaccine is safe for individuals with an egg allergy.

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Can I Have The Flu Vaccine If I Take Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are a type of medicine used to treat some cancers, including metastatic melanoma, renal clear cell carcinoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, non-small cell lung cancer and other solid organ tumours. Checkpoint inhibitors include ipilimumab, nivolumab and pembrolizumab.

People taking checkpoint inhibitors may have a higher risk of immune-related side effects following influenza vaccination. Talk to your oncologist about the risks and benefits of the flu shot.

Is The Flu Vaccine Safe

• The flu vaccine is safe for most people and is recommended for everyone ages 6 months and older. People who should not receive flu vaccines are those who have had a severe allergic reaction to the flu or other vaccine in the past and those who have had a condition called Guillan-Barre syndrome.

• If you have questions about your specific medical conditions, call your doctor to ask if its safe for you to get a flu vaccine.

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Should I Get The Flu Vaccine If I’m Pregnant Or Breastfeeding

• Years of studies and observation show that you can safely get a flu shot at any time, during any trimester, while you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Babies cannot get the vaccine until six months old. Because antibodies from the vaccine pass onto a fetus in the womb and through breast milk, you protect your baby even more by getting vaccinated.

• Pregnant people should not get the nasal spray form of the flu vaccine. Those with a life-threatening egg allergy should not get the flu vaccine, whether pregnant or not.

SourcesFlu & Pregnancy- CDC

What Is An Enhanced Influenza Vaccine

An enhanced flu vaccine is one that contains an adjuvant, an ingredient designed to increase the immune-system response to the vaccine. People aged 65 and older are often given an enhanced influenza vaccine because since the immune system weakens with age they dont respond as well to the flu vaccine as healthy, younger adults.

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Can I Get The Flu Vaccine If I Have A Latex Allergy

Influenza vaccines used in Australia dont contain latex and are safe for people with a latex allergy or sensitivity. While the product information for Fluarix Tetra and Fluad Quad state that some presentations of the vaccine cannot be considered latex-free, these presentations are actually not supplied in Australia.

Getting A Flu Vaccine During The Covid

Yes. Getting a flu vaccine is an essential part of protecting your health and your familys health every year. Take recommended precautions to protect yourself from COVID-19 while getting your flu vaccine.

Yes. Wearing a mask and physical distancing can help protect you and others from respiratory viruses, like flu and the virus that causes COVID-19. However, the best way to reduce your risk of flu illness and its potentially serious complications is for everyone 6 months and older to get a flu vaccine each year. By getting a flu vaccine, you may also be protecting people around you who are more vulnerable to serious flu complications.

Yes, you can get a COVID-19 vaccine and a flu vaccine at the same time.

Even though both vaccines can be given at the same visit, people should follow the recommended schedule for either vaccine: If you havent gotten your currently recommended doses of COVID-19 vaccine, get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you can, and ideally get a flu vaccine by the end of October.

While limited data exist on giving COVID-19 vaccines with other vaccines, including flu vaccines, experience with giving other vaccines together has shown the way our bodies develop protection and possible side effects are generally similar whether vaccines are given alone or with other vaccines.

If you have concerns about getting both vaccines at the same time, you should speak with a health care provider.

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Factors In Flu Shot Effectiveness

Influenza viruses are constantly changing and evolving rapidly. Circulating influenza viruses can mutate from one season to the next.

Researchers need to select the specific influenza viruses to include in the vaccine many months before flu season begins. This means whats in the vaccine may not always match whats actually circulating during flu season. This can decrease the effectiveness of the seasonal flu vaccine.

Age can also play a role in vaccine efficacy because your immune system tends to become weaker as you age. The Food and Drug Administration has approved a high-dose flu vaccine for people 65 and older.

The higher dose is aimed at providing a better immune response and therefore better protection within this age group. for those over 65 with the high-dose vaccine.

The CDC also recommends that some children between the ages of 6 months and 8 years receive two doses of the influenza vaccine during the first season in which theyre vaccinated in order to have sufficient protection.

Its still possible to get the flu after being vaccinated, but research has shown that the illness may be less severe and that people who receive a flu shot may be less likely to be admitted to the hospital if they get the flu.

Postpone Your Flu Shot If You Have Covid

The best way to protect yourself and others against seasonal flu infection this fall or winter is to get a flu shot. According to the CDC, the flu shot reduced the risk of flu by 40% to 60% when the vaccine was well matched to the viruses estimated to be spreading in previous flu seasons.

But if you have a suspected or confirmed coronavirus infection, the CDCadvises postponing a flu shot until after your symptoms have resolved. This recommendation is essential if you are very sick, but it also applies if you tested positive for COVID-19 and do not have any symptoms.

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