Flu vaccine may not increase Covid-19 risk: Study

Researchers have found that receiving the influenza vaccine does not increase a person’s risk for contracting Covid-19 or worsen associated morbidity or mortality. Published in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, the study shows the flu vaccine is the single most important intervention to help stay healthy this fall and winter.

For the findings, the research team analysed more than 13,000 patients tested for Covid-19 at Cleveland Clinic in the US, between early March and mid-April of this year. “Our findings suggest that we should proceed as usual with our vaccination strategy for global influenza this flu season,” said study author Joe Zein from Cleveland Clinic in the US.

“Getting the annual flu vaccine remains the best safeguard against the influenza virus–both for yourself and the people around you,” Zein added.

Comparing those who had received unadjuvanted influenza vaccines in the fall or winter of 2019 (4,138 patients) against those who did not receive the vaccine (9,082 patients) revealed that influenza vaccination was not associated with increased Covid-19 incidence or disease severity, including risk for hospitalization, admission to the intensive care unit or mortality.

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