Get your COVID vaccine and flu shot together
If you’ve been waiting to receive your COVID-19 vaccine, you will soon have a new avenue to get one.
Flu vaccine clinics open in Saskatchewan October 12, and SHA clinics will be offering both flu and COVID-19 immunizations. COVID-19 vaccination, including boosters, will be available at most SHA public flu clinics to anyone eligible to receive it. Patients looking for both a flu and COVID-19 vaccine only require a single appointment in the booking system. Health providers are trained to offer both vaccines to those eligible in the same appointment time.
“It is completely safe to receive both your flu and your COVID-19 vaccine at the same time,” noted Dr. Tania Diener, COVID-19 Immunization Co-Chief, Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) for the Saskatchewan Health Authority. “Previously, we had avoided delivering COVID-19 vaccines to anyone who received another recent vaccination. However, since that time, evidence has shown that it is safe to receive your COVID-19 vaccine alongside another shot.”
All Health Canada-approved COVID-19 vaccines can now be given at the same time as other vaccines. There’s no wait-time required before or after you receive your COVID-19 vaccine, and no additional safety risks or adverse events have been identified by the flu and COVID-19 vaccine being given at the same time.
“If you have not received your COVID-19 vaccine, now is the time to get it, and get a flu vaccine at the same time,” Diener noted. “It is very important to get your flu shot to protect yourself and those around you from the Influenza virus, especially as COVID-19 is circulating at the same time. And it is very important for you to receive your COVID-19 vaccine, to protect you from that disease. Influenza vaccination does not protect you against COVID and COVID vaccination does not protect you against Influenza.”
Getting vaccinated is especially important for people at high-risk of influenza complications (pregnant women, young children, elderly (65+), persons with underlying health conditions, immune-compromised) and their caregivers, and those who care for the people who cannot receive Influenza vaccine, including children less than six months of age.
By receiving your flu vaccine, you will help protect those at higher risk of complications as well as those who are unable to receive it. You will also help minimize your own risk of developing illness that leads to sickness and hospitalization that places an additional burden on hospitals in Saskatchewan that are already under significant pressure due to COVID-19.