If you’re looking to have a double-vaxxed fall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it’s OK to have your flu shot and COVID vaccine administered at the same visit.
Previously, the CDC recommended people receive their COVID-19 vaccinations separately and schedule any other vaccinations at least two weeks before or after their COVID-19 immunization.
“This was out of an abundance of caution during a period when these vaccines were new and not due to any known safety or immunogenicity concerns,” says the CDC. “However, substantial data have now been collected regarding the safety of COVID-19 vaccines currently approved or authorized by FDA.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics has also said that for children eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine (age 12 and older), both the influenza and COVID-19 vaccines can be administered during the same visit.
Although there is limited data about giving COVID-19 vaccines with other vaccines, the CDC notes that “extensive experience with non-COVID-19 vaccines has demonstrated that immunogenicity and adverse event profiles are generally similar when vaccines are administered simultaneously as when they are administered alone.”
Even though both vaccines can be given at the same visit, people should follow the recommended schedule for either vaccine: If you haven’t gotten your currently recommended doses of COVID-19 vaccine, get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you can, and ideally get a flu vaccine by the end of October.
If flu and COVID vaccines are being administered at the same visit, providers should separate injection sites by at least one inch, the CDC recommends. Flu vaccines that are more likely to cause a local reaction, like high-dose or the adjuvanted inactivated flu vaccine, should be administered on a different limb, if possible.