COVID/Flu Shots

GrumpyCanadian

I have been wondering what others have experienced getting the current round of shots. I'm a little late to the party, but am looking to book my appointment(s). The only question is whether to do both at once, or space them out a little. If you got both at once, would you care to share your experiences? Any unpleasant effects?

g121

GrumpyCanadian I have been wondering what others have experienced getting the current round of shots. I'm a little late to the party, but am looking to book my appointment(s). The only question is whether to do both at once, or space them out a little. If you got both at once, would you care to share your experiences? Any unpleasant effects?

For the last two years, I've gotten my Flu & Covid(Pfizer) jabs at the same time in early fall .. one in each arm .. pretty much a non-event for me; just a wee bit of tenderness from a needle jab.

Such a simple, small exercise to reduce one's & thus others risk ..

KingB71

GrumpyCanadian I got both back in November and have had zero side effects. I haven't gotten a flu shot in about 25 years, as the last 2 times I got it I was deathly sick with the flu, (more likely due to me working in downtown Toronto and dealing with crowded GO Trains)

Thane_Bitter

GrumpyCanadian Did both at the same time via a pharmacy, one in each arm. The ache afterwards made that nights sleep uncomfortable but it was only the one night. Should have taken an analgesic but didn't.

MomOfARocker

GrumpyCanadian I have a mechanical aortiac heart valve as does my son. Our doctor likes us to get everything because of that so we have had both the flu shot and covid vaccines (since those have been available) for the past four years. We get them both done at the same time and neither of us have ever had any issues with doing it that way. I do sometimes get a bit of a red and somewhat warm spot on one arm but I always forget to ask which is going in which arm so not sure which vaccine causes that reaction. Not a big deal though, normally that reaction is gone by the next day. I personally have had 6 covid vaccines in total, 4 Pfizers ad 2 Modernas.

HELLFIRE

Think my last two or three shots have been the bivalent vaccine, just the usual sore arm / minor lethargy for a day or two and back to 100%. Mind you, I'm only one person of millions of people...

Regards

GrumpyCanadian

HELLFIRE Did you opt for COVID and flu at the same time?

HELLFIRE

HELLFIRE bivalent vaccine

I think I may have mangled using this term and/or my province never got the combo COVID+flu vaccine.

Checking my records again, yes, my last shots was separate doses of flu vax and COMIRNATY KP2 (Pfizer) in the same sitting. Waited the standard 15mins, got home fine with no adverse reactions.

HTH.

Regards

Dks01

GrumpyCanadian Did you opt for COVID and flu at the same time?

Yes. One in the left arm and one in the right. Other than feeling crappy for 24 hours, treated with Tylenol, no other reactions.

bjlockie

HELLFIRE my last shots was separate doses of flu vax and COMIRNATY KP2 (Pfizer) in the same sitting

Same, no problems.

MichelR

HELLFIRE COMIRNATY KP2

I was looking at which one I got on Monday and saw "COMIRNATY" and was like, "WTF is this?" Took me a minute to remember it was the name of the Pfizer vaccine. Whenever I see Comirnaty, I think Moriarty.

Astyanax

g121 For the last two years, I've gotten my Flu & Covid(Pfizer) jabs at the same time in early fall .. one in each arm .. pretty much a non-event for me; just a wee bit of tenderness from a needle jab.

This is exactly my experience and when I do it. I deliberately wait until around mid-October and get the flu and latest Covid shots in each arm in the same appointment. My arm is sore for about 24 hours but if you move it around more right afterwards for a day it's not as sore. No other side effects.

taraf

Same. Both shots in one visit, but two shots the last several times I've gotten it. No adverse affects, and such a small price to pay to help others - I really can't understand why some people are so vehemently against getting it.

px_eliezer_

taraf I really can't understand why some people are so vehemently against getting it.

I take a Flu shot every year, and I have had six (6) Covid vaccinations.

And as a health care provider, I am very supportive of vaccines.

Right now there is a big Measles outbreak in Texas among unvaccinated Mennonite people.

However---going forward, and now that we are not in the midst of the Covid pandemic---there ARE potential issues.

Previously, the Astra-Zeneca vaccine and the J&J vaccine, both had some issues leading to their withdrawal in various countries.

Now, a new study is underway from Yale regarding (RARE) post-vaccine issues.

A small study identified potential immunologic patterns associated with post-vaccination syndrome, a very rare condition with neurologic symptoms that occurs in some people following a COVID-19 vaccine.

Immune cell populations of people with post-vaccination syndrome had lower levels of effector CD4 T cells and higher levels of CD8 T cells that secrete tumor necrosis factor (TNF) compared with healthy controls, reported Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, of Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, and co-authors in a preprint posted on medRxivopens in a new tab or window. The paper has not been peer-reviewed....

A subset of post-vaccination syndrome patients also had higher levels of circulating spike protein in their blood. Detectable levels of the S1 subunit of the spike protein were seen in plasma up to 709 days after the most recent known exposure. Finding the spike protein in circulation at such a late time point was surprising, Iwasaki said.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/neurology/generalneurology/114306
https://publichealthpolicyjournal.com/yale-study-links-persistent-spike-protein-to-post-vaccination-syndrome-immune-dysregulation/

Again, the overall benefit of the vaccines has been immense, and these new findings seem to reflect a relatively rare situation.

But knowledge here is continually evolving, and the [early] attitude that "this is the best of all possible worlds" has to be adjusted for current understandings.

dillyhammer

Flu + COVID at the same time, one in each arm, no ill effects other than a sore arm.

Donoreo

My wife got both at the same time, but I did not, I had COVID only 4 weeks prior so I did not get a COVID shot. We have been doing both at the same time, no affects other than the usual if you poke where the injection was you can feel it for a day or so.

OzarkEdge

No issues with Covid (Pfizer) + Flu shots here last fall.

wdunwoody

I've done both, but not at the same time. While you can do both at the same time, if there is a reaction, how do you know which shot was responsible? But then, I've never had any reaction to a Covid or flu shot.

Hydraglass

wdunwoody I've done both, but not at the same time. While you can do both at the same time, if there is a reaction, how do you know which shot was responsible? But then, I've never had any reaction to a Covid or flu shot.

I've done the two at the same time the last two years in November - there's some pre-print research that says the adjuvants in the flu shot can actually help boost the effectiveness of the covid shot by having the immune system more active, if they are done simultaneously - so I'll probably continue to pair them up.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10515870/

MichelR

I got a flu shot in November, but since I had COVID during the summer, I had to wait for the next shot. I have an appointment this Monday. Got some shows to attend in March. In 2023 I got both at the same time, same arm, no issues. A couple of times with the COVID shot I had some pain for a couple of days, but it was more of an annoyance than anything.

Sparkchaser

I got them separately in October. I'm one of those that gets reactions to shots, so I feel it's better to space them.

styvas

I got both in one visit and didn’t really have any particular reactions other than mildly sore arms and a bit of lethargy. It might have even been the least reaction I’ve had yet of the various Covid and flu shots in the last four years.

ugly95

px_eliezer_ Now, a new study is underway from Yale regarding (RARE) post-vaccine issues.

There's is not a whole lot of reason to be concerned about the findings in that study. While the headlines seem to focus on vaccination, the study did not find any significant results in those with vaccinations who did not also have recent infections. There are only extremely small sample sizes, and there were only 3 patients that reported post vaccination syndrome who were not also recently infected.

It's worth paying attention to, and further research should be done. And people who have problems should not be ignored. But most likely what we are seeing is the same thing we've seen all along. It's the infection that we should be concerned about.

As for my own experience. The last couple times I had done both at the same time in the same arm. For some reason, last year was quite painful in the arm. To the point that I don't think I would have been able to comfortably stickhandle playing hockey if I had a game that same night. This year I did both in different arms at the same time. There wasn't much pain, but I think flu arm was slightly more painful.

Somewhat-Reticent

px_eliezer_ Did these studies differentiate between vaccine technologies?
New less-tested-tech vaccines were allowed into production due to CovID emergency.

px_eliezer_

ugly95 There's is not a whole lot of reason to be concerned about the findings in that study. While the headlines seem to focus on vaccination, the study did not find any significant results in those with vaccinations who did not also have recent infections. There are only extremely small sample sizes, and there were only 3 patients that reported post vaccination syndrome who were not also recently infected.

It's worth paying attention to, and further research should be done. And people who have problems should not be ignored. But most likely what we are seeing is the same thing we've seen all along. It's the infection that we should be concerned about.

Good points, and of course the overall vaccine usage had far more benefit than harm.