is Flu vaccinations linked to increased COVID-19 risk?

 

influenza and corona virus electron micrography

According to a recent study, the flu vaccine does not increase a person’s risk of getting COVID-19 and is not associated with severe illness and death from the disease.

The research, which features in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, reveals that the flu vaccine is the single most important way to protect people’s health this fall and winter.

Seasonal flu activity can be unpredictable, and it is common for otherwise healthy people to be hospitalized due to critical respiratory infection each year.

Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that during the 2019-2020 United States flu season, there were 39–56 million cases of the disease. There were also 18–26 million flu medical visits, requiring up to 740,000 hospitalizations. Furthermore, flu may have caused the deaths of as many as 62,000 people in the U.S.

Preventing a ‘twindemic’

Studies investigating the 1918 flu pandemic suggest that a second wave of COVID-19 is possible in the fall and winter of 2020. This would overlap with seasonal flu’s most active phase.

Preventive measures, such as physical distancing, have also reduced the spread of the flu. The CDC reported that positive test results dropped from more than 20% to 2.3% during the pandemic and have remained at “historically low interseasonal levels.”

As the flu season merges with the COVID-19 pandemic this fall, getting the flu vaccine is more important than ever. This will help prevent a “twindemic” — the collision of flu and COVID-19.