With COVID threatening the general public and the flu season coming up, getting a flu shot is more crucial than ever. Influenzas like SARS-CoV are disease-causing viruses. Thus, the surest way to protect yourself is to get vaccinated so that your body becomes immune to the virus. If you become infected with the flu, symptoms such as coughing, muscle aches, fever, and headaches can occur. The real threat however is when you become coinfected with COVID.
An article published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), reviewed data analysis done by Public Health England (PHE) which looked at 19,256 people who were tested for both the flu and SARS-CoV to compare confection rates and mortality rates. The results showed that although the chances of being coinfected with both viruses were generally low, when a patient was coinfected with both COVID-19 and influenza, the death rate of the patient doubled. This means that although we shouldn’t worry excessively about coinfection, we should take the necessary precautions by getting our flu shot and continuing to follow proper social distancing guidelines.
For student’s wondering about how they can get their flu shot, the Rite Aid down the street is probably your closest option. Most pharmacies will offer flu shots right before flu season. If not, then any vaccination clinic or doctor’s office will work fine. A flu shot will cost you around $40 dollars but most insurance providers including the Andrews Student Health Insurance will cover the cost. Check with your provider before you head over to get your flu shot.
Finally, those who are concerned about the potential harmful effects of the flu shots, extensive research has been done over the safety of flu shots. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), “Hundreds of millions of Americans have safely received flu vaccines over the past 50 years…” If you are worried that you have a weak immune system and are concerned that a flu shot will get you sick, there’s nothing to worry about. It is a common misconception that you can catch the flu from a flu shot; however, a flu shot consists only of inactivated (dead) virus which cannot cause infection in your body. There is a slight chance (1-2% chance according to CDC) that you may experience a mild fever or soreness from the vaccine, however this is simply your body responding to the vaccine or and will usually dissipate after a few days.
Overall, given our current circumstances, getting a flu shot is crucial for your health, and with it being easily accessible and safe to use, there is no reason why you shouldn’t get a flu shot as soon as possible.
References
Flu Vaccine Safety Information. (2019, September 17). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/general.htm
Harvard Health Publishing. (2020, October 1). 10 Flu Myths. Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/10-flu-myths
Iacobucci, G. (2020). Covid-19: Risk of death more than doubled in people who also had flu, English data show. BMJ, m3720. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3720
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.