MADRID, 9 Oct. (EDITIONS) –
The flu vaccination campaign and the second booster dose of COVID-19 have already begun. Many people wonder why this is done at the same time and if they will have more side effects from getting both vaccines at the same time.
We interviewed several subject matter experts at Infosalus to get an idea, but in short, There is nothing wrong with getting vaccinated with both at the same time, and the side effects won’t be greater for that.
First, we spoke with the president of the Spanish Society of Immunology, Dr. Marcos López Hoyos, who assures that it is “totally safe” to inoculate both at the same time, stressing that “minor side effects must not add up” if both are vaccinated at the same time.
From the Spanish Vaccination Association, its co-founder, pediatrician and vaccine expert, Dr. José Antonio Navarro Alonso, indicates that “absolutely nothing happens” to being vaccinated at the same time for influenza and COVID-19, and is more, he notices it in this way “we save ourselves from returning to the vaccination site a second time”.
Regarding the side effects of the simultaneous injection of the two vaccines, this vaccine specialist, and honorary consultant of the Ministry of Health on the subject, indicates that “in the studies carried out in the previous season, concomitant administration was associated with a slight increase in systemic reactions such as muscle pain, fatigue and headache; all of them, in general, mild and transitory “.
IT MUST BE IN DIFFERENT ARMS
Alva Saa Casal, professor of the University Master in Epidemiology and Public Health at the VIU (International University of Valencia), and doctor specializing in Preventive Medicine and Public Health, even remembers that before the flu vaccine was also administered at the same time as the pneumococcal flu vaccine , and without any problem.
“Indeed, last year they injected the flu and COVID-19 at the same time and it is more than proven by doing it at the same time the immune response did not diminish. Also, does not affect the safety of the vaccine, that is, it does not increase the probability of reactogenicity, local pain, swelling, headache, fevers, myalgias. It is safe and can be vaccinated at the same time, ”she explains. Of course, he specifies that, the one thing, the flu vaccine and the COVID-19 vaccine must be placed in different arms, especially to avoid reactions at the local level.
BY DOING AT THE SAME TIME YOU SAVE COSTS AND TIME
For her part, Ángela Domínguez, coordinator of the Vaccination Group of the Spanish Society of Epidemiology, explains to Infosalus that both are vaccines that can be administered simultaneously, while defending that using the same time simplifies and provides efficiency, since there is no contraindication to doing it at the same time, the risk of both infections is there and you save on costs.
Inma Cuesta, nurse, secretary of the National Nursing and Vaccine Association ANENVAC also pivots on this topic. In his opinion, given the saturation and overload of the health system in the same vaccination act, vaccination is much more profitable because the two vaccines are administered simultaneously, two diseases are prevented at the same time and health costs are saved, but also in the transport time because the person does not have to go to the vaccination center twice.
The collaborator also of the General Council of Nursing also underlines that, in fact, it is a recommendation that both be received at the same time in the same vaccination act. “There is no reason why recipients have a worse post-vaccination reaction than if they only received one. Furthermore, there are studies showing that the immune response to vaccination when two vaccines are given at the same time has improved,” he said. . she supports her.
Here remember for for example, the case of younger children, breastfed, who at two months, for example, are injected with more than one vaccineand this does not justify that the child has more adverse reactions.
RELIEF THE SIDE EFFECTS
With this, this vaccine expert nurse remembers that the side effects of these two vaccines are divided into “normal post-vaccine” and “adverse”. Speaking of “normal” after receiving a vaccine, she talks about fever, discomfort and pain at the injection site, “something normal and temporary”, she appreciates her.
As for the ‘adverse’ ones, he says that these correspond to an adverse reaction, with more serious symptoms that can affect health, these being “very rare, very rare” and requiring evaluation by a doctor.
“When vaccinating, it is normal for nothing to happen and, if symptoms appear, it is normal for them to be normal and temporary after vaccination, in the form of fever, discomfort and pain at the injection site“added Cuesta.
When it comes to relieving them, focus on pain relievers, and warns that it is not recommended that it be acetylsalicylic acid. “Yes, paracetamol can be taken, as long as the person is not allergic to it. Locally, you can put the local cold, a cold water cloth or an ice cube covered with a cloth and apply it to the area of the puncture. “, points out.
