Who Needs a Fall COVID-19 or Flu Vaccination?
Who needs a fall COVID-19 or flu vaccination?
The CDC recommends that everyone over 6 months of age should get the COVID and flu vaccines. This helps to prevent community infections. Like all other vaccines, just because you get the vaccine does not mean that you will not get Covid. What the vaccine does is show your body what the COVID virus looks like, so it knows what it is looking for when the actual virus tries to cause an infection. This allows the body to recognize and attack it faster which can result in prevention or at least decrease symptom severity.
What’s new about the COVID-19 shots?
There are 3 vaccines available:
Moderna – 6 months
Pfiser – 6 months
Novavax – 12 year olds
Now like the flu vaccine there is a new COVID vaccine every year. For individuals who have already had a prior vaccine then its getting a yearly booster. For those who are over 65 years old or those who are immunocompromised, it is recommended to get vaccinated twice a year, ideally 6 months apart. These recommendations just came out October 23.
Which flu vaccine to choose?
There are several flu vaccines to choose from depending on your age and if you are allergic to eggs.
People over the age of 65 should get the high dose or the adjuvanted vaccine. These illicit a higher immune response so their bodies make more antibodies than they would to the regular vaccine. This helps protect them more than if they had gotten the regular vaccine.
Making the flu vaccine involves using eggs as a cell culture so those people who have egg allergies should get a specific cell-based flu vaccine in which they use a different cell culture medium.
There is also a nasal spray vaccine for those who dislike needles. This vaccine has several limitations. People must be between 2-49 years old and it cannot be given to pregnant women or immunocompromised people.
All flu vaccines are now Trivalent – one strain has not been reported since 2020
High-dose flu (Fluzone) x4 the antigen
Cell-based flu (Flucelvax) – egg free
Nasal spray flu (FluMist) – live attenuated – NOT for preg, immunocompromised, certainmed
Adjuvanted flu (Fluad) 65yo +
Recombinant flu (Flublok) 65yo +
Everyone
(2-49yo) – nasal spray flu
65+ (adjuvanted and high-dose)
Egg allergies (Flucelvax / Flublok)
