Dr Manuel Silva, a family physician at Joseph Addabb Community Clinic in Far Rockaway, Queens, urges his patients to get a flu shot as health experts warn of a possible double pandemic this fall and winter with COVID-19. still present.
Maurizio Silva, says:
“I recommend that you get vaccinated, the vaccines are free and are available in many centers accessible to the entire population.”
Both the annual flu shot and updated booster dose of COVID-19 are recommended because they target the currently circulating versions of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in addition to the original coronavirus strain.
“Hence, vaccinated patients are less likely to enter hospital, intensive care and avoid having chronic problems due to COVID or pneumonia, in case of flu,” adds Silva.
And to kill two birds with one stone, Pfizer announced that its German partner, BioNTech, is developing the combination of the updated COVID-19 booster vaccine and the flu shot.
His goal is to efficiently tackle two serious respiratory diseases with one vaccine.
“I think it’s excellent, generally when we have vaccine combinations, patients get a single injection.it is less aggressive towards patients and they tend to be vaccinated more frequently and more easily.
Some patients we spoke to at this clinic claim that once approved, they would receive this vaccine, without thinking. While others aren’t sure if they would.
Marcenia Argueta, patient of the Joseph Addabbo Community Clinic, is in favor of vaccination:
“It’s okay because you are more protected and you feel safer and you are already walking a little more quietly on the streets.”
Like Rolando Linares:
“If because I don’t want to make my grandchildren, my sons, my daughters sick … then I don’t want my family to be at risk.”
However, Dolores Cepeda, another patient is not so sure about the effects of the vaccine, her concerns about the effects of the vaccine:
“I would wait a little longer to see the reaction to the vaccine because it is something new.”
Two other companies developing a combination vaccine against COVID-19 and the flu are Moderna and Novavax.
To find a vaccination center near you, visit the website vaccini.gov.
