Should you get a flu vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic?

The Center for Public Health emphasizes that in order to spend the New Year and Christmas holidays safely and without health complications, you need to get vaccinated against influenza. This can be done throughout the epidemic season.

There is no specific treatment for the flu, but there is prevention.

Given the shortage of vaccines last year, this year more are available in Ukraine. According to importers, about 1.25 million doses of influenza vaccines have been imported to Ukraine this season.

Ukrainians can buy these vaccines on the private market in pharmacies:

JICI FLU QUADRIVALENT, Korea;
VAXIGRIP TETRA, France;
INFLUVAC TETRA, the Netherlands.

All these vaccines have been registered and are safe for use.

About 30 thousand doses are available to healthcare professionals through the PIVI mechanism free of charge.

See also: How to choose quality toys for children for the New Year

The state budget also purchased about 180 thousand doses of influenza vaccines to vaccinate people at risk. These include:

• people aged 60 years and older
• children from 6 months of age
• pregnant women
• people with chronic diseases;
• people from the professional risk group (doctors, teachers, military, salespeople, etc.).

These vaccines have already been distributed to all regions of Ukraine. So, please contact your family doctor and get vaccinated free of charge if you are a member of any of the risk groups.

This year, Ukraine also launched a project to vaccinate against influenza in pharmacies. Every adult citizen can buy a flu vaccine, undergo a doctor's examination, and get vaccinated directly at a pharmacy. It is convenient, profitable, and relieves the workload of outpatient clinics. However, so far, this initiative has only been implemented in Kyiv and Rivne.

It is important to get vaccinated against the flu. This can be done not only at the beginning but also throughout the entire episode. Because the risk of getting the flu and having serious complications is quite high, especially for people at risk.

See also: Where to go if your family doctor quits or falls ill

"More than 65 thousand deaths caused by complications from influenza are registered every year in the world. Even on a global scale, this figure is high. To prevent the disease, get vaccinated. This can be done now if you did not have time to get vaccinated at the beginning of the epidemic season," summarizes Oleksandr Zaika, head of the Immunization Department at the Public Health Center.

In addition, the risk of simultaneous infection with influenza and COVID-19 is very high - the risk of mortality is 6 times higher if these infections are combined. It is important that flu and COVID-19 vaccines can be administered on the same day.

"During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of visits to primary care physicians increased 5-10 times. Unfortunately, the number of healthcare workers has decreased. So ask yourself - do you want to get sick?" emphasizes Iryna Voloshyna, MD, family doctor, professor at the Department of Family Medicine at Zaporizhzhia State Medical University.

The doctor emphasizes that it is worth getting vaccinated against influenza in order to

• protect against flu complications (pneumonia, otitis media, etc.) and reduce the risk of hospitalization
• save money on treatment;
• save your working time and your children's study time.

Post-vaccination reactions are rare and resolve quickly. They include: malaise, myalgia, headache, swelling at the injection site, erythema at the injection site.

In Odesa, you can get vaccinated against influenza in the manipulation room of the medical center at 30 Zhukovskogo Street.