A British clinical trial found no signs of danger from simultaneously getting a flu shot and a second dose of Covid-19 vaccine. The results are welcome news for nervous health workers as flu season hits. The study supports: recommendation US health authorities
In the study, doctors recruited 679 people across the UK between April and June. At that time, all of the volunteers had received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech, the two first allowed vaccines there.
When the volunteers returned for the second dose of their Covid-19 vaccine, the researchers gave half the flu shot at the same time and the other half a placebo.
The researchers then monitored the volunteers for side effects such as pain and fever.
“No safety concerns were raised in this trial,” the authors wrote in their preliminary report, published online Thursday but not yet published in a scientific journal.
In addition to looking at the safety of vaccines, the researchers also collected blood to measure antibodies to the coronavirus. Some combinations of different brands of vaccines resulted in a slightly lower level of antibodies and in other cases a slightly higher level. However, the researchers did not suspect that any combination of the flu and Covid vaccine would lead to a lower efficacy than each given separately.
The researchers did not speculate on what kind of immune responses people would experience if they got the flu shot at the same time as a third Covid-19 vaccine; A lot of people may be doing it right now as the Biden administration authorizes boosters for large doses. Put the Americans at risk.