It’s that time of the year when sickness starts to spread quickly. With the cooler weather come viruses, such as the flu, COVID, and RSV. Last year we experienced a rise in all three during December, January, and February.
But this is the first winter that vaccines are available for all three.
The updated COVID-19 shot was approved by the FDA just in time for the winter season.
“I don’t think of it as a new vaccine. I think of it as an updated version,” said Dr. Katie Lockwood, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Lockwood recommends the COVID vaccine for everyone 6 months and older.
The new flu vaccine is also recommended for people over 6 months of age. A recent study found individuals who received the flu shot were half as likely to be hospitalized as those who didn’t.
There are also now RSV vaccines available for infants and older people who are at the highest risk of developing life-threatening complications. Two vaccines are recommended for adults over 60.
“Which then provides them immediate protection against RSV and has been shown to decrease hospitalizations by as much as 79%,” Lockwood said.
A newly approved monoclonal antibody vaccine is now available for babies from birth up until eight months old. One question parents have is whether it is safe for children to get more than one vaccine at a time.
“You can separate them by a few days or a week if you need to or want to, but it’s completely safe to give them all at once,” Lockwood said.
Experts say it’s hard to know just how bad this season will be for these viruses, but they hope the vaccines will help lessen the number of people affected.