Flu vaccine- makers ramp up production
The symptoms of COVID- 19 — cough, fever, chills — can feel a lot like seasonal influenza. That could be an issue when doctors and patients find themselves trying to tell the difference as flu season heats up this fall.
The big worry is that both the flu and COVID- 19 can be fatal — with the flu killing as many as 62,000 people in a typical fall- to- spring season and the coronavirus blamed for 183,000 deaths nationwide in the six months ending Aug. 31, including those of 7,742 Pennsylvanians.
Simplify your life, advises L. J. Tan, chief strategy officer at the nonprofit Immunization Action Coalition in St. Paul, Minn.: Get vaccinated for the flu to scratch that off the list of things you might catch this year. The alternative could be worse.
“We do not want the flu on top of COVID- 19,” Mr. Tan said. “We want to take that off the table from a medical standpoint. You don’t want to get both.”
Even though the flu vaccine can reduce the overall risk of getting the virus by 40% to 60%, more than half of the people who are eligible for immunization typically don’t get it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Eligibility includes just about everybody over 6 months of age.
The reasons for not getting vaccinated can be a matter of simple convenience, Mr. Tan said. Making a doctor’s appointment could be a hurdle for many people, but most health plans cover flu shots, so stopping at a grocery store pharmacy where shots are offered could be a more convenient option.
“Unlike pediatric visits, we don’t have a good preventive care system,” Mr. Tan said. “The reason we see a doctor is because we broke something.”
Misconceptions about the vaccine is another reason for opting out, according to Robert Morgenstern, chief medical officer at Sharon Regional Medical Center in Sharon.
“It’s an urban legend that the vaccine causes influenza — and that’s inaccurate,” Dr. Morgenstern said. “The vast majority of flu shots don’t contain live virus; it’s a dead virus.”
In the Northern Hemisphere, vaccine formulations, which change annually, are based on the most common strains circulating in the Southern Hemisphere. Drug companies make the vaccines from either eggs or cells, and the Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee met in March to choose the flu viruses that would be part of this year’s vaccine.
Even though retail pharmacies have been vaccinating people before Labor Day for the 2020- 21 season, doctors have to weigh the benefits of giving the vaccine early over the prospect of the immunity fading before the flu season ends, said Andrea Fox, chief medical officer at the Squirrel Hill Health Center.
“The flu shot doesn’t last forever,” she said. “September is a great time to get it.”
Mr. Tan and others say it’s more important than ever to get the vaccine as the coronavirus spreads through the U. S. Neither the flu nor COVID- 19 have cures, but mistaking flu for COVID- 19 could tie up hospital resources that people with the disease may need.
Confusion over whether someone has flu or COVID19 also could compromise quarantine measures, which are critical to stopping the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus.
September and October are ideal times to get vaccinated for the flu, but with the peak of the season typically arriving in February, even January is not too late.
The CDC recommends getting a flu vaccine before the end of October.
It takes two weeks after the vaccine is administered to achieve protection from the disease. The vaccine guards against three or four strains of the virus. People over age 65 are at special risk of flu complications, according to the CDC.
Between 70% and 85% of seasonal flu deaths and 50% to 70% of flu- related hospitalizations are people age 65 and older. Nasal spray vaccine is not recommended for this age group — only people ages 2 to 49 are candidates — and the injection for those age 65 and older contains four times the antigen of normal flu shots to elicit a stronger immune response.
The outbreak of COVID19 in the U. S. has prompted vaccine- makers to produce a record amount of flu serum, with 194 million to 198 million doses in injection and nasal spray forms — 20% more than a typical year, according to the CDC.
Research has shown the vaccine’s effectiveness: In the six flu seasons between 2010 and 2016, vaccination prevented 3,000 to 10,000 deaths each year, according to the CDC.
No flu vaccine works 100% of the time in preventing the disease, but getting immunized can lessen the severity and length of the disease, Mr. Tan said.
“If you get the flu without a vaccine, you might walk into the hospital with the flu, but you might walk out with a walker three weeks later,” he said. Getting the vaccine can be a quality of life issue, especially for people over 65.
The actual shot isn’t something to fear. Muscle soreness at the site of injection and a low- grade fever for a few days — an immune reaction — are among the potential side effects of getting vaccinated. But none of the most common side effects is worse than actually getting the flu.
“The flu can really knock people out sick for two weeks,” Dr. Fox said. “Everybody should get vaccinated, especially if you’re around infants or older adults.”