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Flu shots now available to all Albertans

Flu + COVID = bad news, says doc
1610 FluShot 5917 km
JUST A PINCH — Pharmacist Jill Bocking administers an influenza vaccine to Cathy Verbicki, 65, at the St. Albert Midtown Apothecary on Oct. 14, 2021. Free flu shots are available to all Albertans starting Oct. 18. KEVIN MA/St. Albert Gazette

St. Albert and Sturgeon residents can now get a flu shot and a COVID-19 shot at the same time to protect their health this fall.

Oct. 18 was the official start of the annual influenza vaccination campaign in Alberta. Anyone older than six months can now get vaccinated against the flu for free by making an appointment at most pharmacies or a COVID-19 vaccination centre. (Alberta Health Services has suspended its usual walk-in flu clinics due to the pandemic.)

Jill Bocking, a pharmacist at St. Albert’s Midtown Apothecary, said seniors and high-risk individuals got early access to the shot earlier this month.

“We’ve gotten a lot of seniors,” she said, many of whom got their COVID-19 booster shots at the same time, and considerable public interest from others as to when the flu shot would be available.

Recent research has confirmed it is safe for people to get immunized against COVID and influenza at the same time, said Lynora Saxinger, co-chair of Alberta Health Services’ COVID-19 science advisory group.

“There’s no real concern with immune system confusion, as your immune system deals with a heck of a lot more stuff than [two vaccines at once] in any given day,” she said.

Saxinger said the only side effect residents might get from getting both shots at once is having two sore arms instead of one (as the needles go into different arms).

Bocking said pharmacists will offer flu shots to anyone who comes in for a COVID shot and vice-versa (provided the timing is right for a COVID shot).

This year’s flu shot will protect against the four flu strains predicted to be most common this year, Bocking said. Unlike last year, all seniors, not just those in care facilities, will get an extra-strength flu shot for maximum protection.

Bocking said residents can make appointments to get their shots at most pharmacies.

Tough season ahead?

Much of the world effectively skipped flu season last year due in large part to anti-COVID-19 measures such as mask wearing and physical distancing. Alberta had zero lab-confirmed influenza cases last flu season — a sharp drop from the 8,470 it had the season before.

Alberta's chief medical officer of health Deena Hinshaw said the province had three lab-confirmed influenza cases as of Oct. 14 at a time when the province’s intensive-care units are packed with COVID patients.

“Influenza remains a serious and deadly virus,” Hinshaw said, and she urged all residents to get vaccinated against it.

How bad this year’s flu season would be was an open question, Saxinger said. Experts usually base their predictions on Australia and New Zealand, but those nations had atypical flu seasons this year due to extensive COVID-19 lockdown measures.

“We’re definitely seeing a lot more other cold viruses going around,” she said, but anti-COVID measures and competition from COVID itself could keep influenza in check.

“I think there’s a reasonable possibility we could have a real flu season again,” she said, which would be a problem, as the flu tends to put lots of people in hospital (1,534 in 2019-2020 province-wide, AHS reports).

Vaccination protects both yourself and the kids, grandparents, and immunocompromised around you, Bocking said. It also lessens a person's chance of being hospitalized due to the flu.

“With the hospitals so full of people with COVID, if you were to need hospitalization with influenza, they might not be able to help you,” she noted.

Visit albertahealthservices.ca/influenza to book a flu shot appointment.


Kevin Ma

About the Author: Kevin Ma

Kevin Ma joined the St. Albert Gazette in 2006. He writes about Sturgeon County, education, the environment, agriculture, science and aboriginal affairs. He also contributes features, photographs and video.
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