Flu and COVID-19 Vaccines and Boosters Are Crucial in 2024
By August Ryan; reviewed for medical accuracy by Janet Fitzpatrick, MD
Doctors say that avoiding COVID-19 and the flu is as important this year as in past years. Stay up to date on booster vaccines to protect yourself and others.
COVID-19 and the flu are caused by different viruses, so you need one vaccine for each illness. It is safe to get both vaccines on the same day and time.
It is important to stay up to date on vaccines because:
- Vaccines become less protective over time.
- Vaccines get updated to help fight new variants/strains of a virus.
- If you are vaccinated and still get sick, the duration of the illness is more likely to be shorter, and the symptoms should be milder and less likely to cause major issues, hospital visits or death.
- It helps keep illness from spreading to people at high risk of major issues, hospital visits or death.
Children, elderly people and people with other health conditions are often considered “high risk.” Janet Fitzpatrick, MD, a Drexel Internal Medicine doctor, emphasized that you cannot tell by looking at someone whether they are high risk.
"Although somebody might not be worried about becoming sick themselves, they never know who else they're going to be around who might be at more risk,” she said. “That might be coworkers, people who are older, or people who have illnesses like lung problems, hypertension or diabetes, among other issues. You don’t necessarily know about the health of those around you, so vaccinating yourself is an important way to protect the community at large.”
When should you get the 2024-2025 flu vaccine?
Experts say it is ideal to get your yearly flu shot by the end of October. Because flu season lasts into March, you can still get a flu shot in the winter if you miss the fall recommendations.
Even if you plan to get your flu shot in October, get the COVID-19 booster as soon as you can.
What is long COVID?
For most people with COVID-19, symptoms like fever, extreme tiredness, cough and more go away after four weeks. People with long COVID:
- May have COVID symptoms after four weeks.
- May have new health problems (for example, rash, depression and/or anxiety, joint pain and more).
- May have symptoms for weeks or years.
Your risk of Long COVID is greater if:
- You have severe COVID-19 symptoms.
- You have never been vaccinated for COVID-19.
- You get COVID-19 multiple times.
Learn more.
About the updated COVID-19 booster
An updated COVID-19 booster is available now. To get the booster:
The latest booster will work even if you did not get earlier boosters. In fact, the earlier primary series vaccines are no longer available in the United States. An updated COVID vaccine is all you need.
If you recently had COVID-19, you still need a booster. Get vaccinated 90 days (three months) after you first tested positive or 90 days (three months) after your symptoms started.
Compared to 2020, it is less common now for younger, healthy people to become severely ill, be hospitalized or die after catching COVID-19. However, COVID-19 is still a serious illness.
The CDC says anyone who has had COVID may be more likely to get:
- Diabetes
- Heart or lung problems
- Blood clots
- Long COVID
- And more
Getting COVID booster vaccines helps prevent more COVID infections and makes it easier for your immune system to fight the infection if you do get sick. Both factors can help prevent long COVID, Dr. Fitzpatrick said.
During these periods of rising COVID cases, people should continue to wear masks and use COVID-19 testing to help protect themselves and others.
“COVID is not killing as many people now, but we do know that the strains that have been circulating within the past year are more contagious,” Dr. Fitzpatrick said. “We do know that each time somebody contracts COVID, they become at more risk for developing long COVID.”
The information on these pages is provided for general information only and should not be used for diagnosis or treatment, or as a substitute for consultation with a physician or health care professional. If you have specific questions or concerns about your health, you should consult your health care professional.
The images being used are for illustrative purposes only; any person depicted is a model.
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