Getting the flu shot and the Covid vaccine is not dangerous, study finds

A UK clinical trial found no sign of danger in getting a flu shot and a second dose of a Covid-19 vaccine at the same time, results that support advice from US health officials and are good news for healthcare workers strained during the flu season the beatings.

In the study, doctors recruited 679 people from April to June across Britain. At the time, all the volunteers had received a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, either from AstraZeneca or from Pfizer-BioNTech, the two vaccines first authorized there.

When the volunteers returned for a second dose of the vaccine, the researchers also gave half of them a flu shot and the other half a placebo. The researchers then monitored the volunteers for side effects, such as pain and fever.

“There are no safety concerns raised in this trial,” the authors wrote in their preliminary report, which was posted online Thursday and has yet to be published in a scientific journal.

In addition to looking at the safety of the vaccines, the researchers also collected blood to measure antibodies against the coronavirus. Certain combinations of different brands of vaccines led to a slightly lower level of antibodies and a slightly higher level in other cases. But the researchers had no idea that any combination of an influenza vaccine and Covid would result in less efficacy than each administered individually.

Researchers have not speculated on the immune responses people might experience if they get the flu shot along with a third Covid-19 vaccine, which many people can do as countries allow. reminders.