Doctors urge elderly adults to get triple-whammy of Covid, flu and RSV vaccines this winter despite ‘miniscule’ risk of strokes flagged by FDA

Doctors have urged older adults to roll up their sleeves for three different vaccines this fall, calling the weak links to a higher risk of stroke “minuscule.”

The advice follows a Food and Drug Administration analysis published this week that found there was a slightly increased risk of stroke among people over 85 who received the new Covid-19 vaccine and the flu shot for seniors at the same time.

It was the second analysis by health officials to show a possible link between strokes and seniors after getting the combination seasonal vaccines.

But experts in heart health and infectious diseases told DailyMail.com that the risk associated with getting both flu and Covid vaccines at once, as well as the new RSV vaccine, is so small that people can still feel comfortable getting everything done in one go. to sit.

For those who want to be extremely careful and don’t mind having “two sore arms,” ​​it’s also fine to stagger their vaccinations.

Infectious disease experts and cardiologists said the small risk between stroke and getting the Covid and flu shots together should not deter older adults from getting flu, Covid and RSV shots all at once.

Dr. Lili Barouch (left), a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins University, told DailyMail.com: ‘That risk is small. It’s minuscule. That wouldn’t stop anyone from getting vaccines.” Dr. Stuart Ray (right), an immunologist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said: ‘I think it’s reasonable to consider spreading these out’

There were roughly three strokes or stroke-like events, called transient ischemic attacks, for every 100,000 doses of both Covid and flu vaccines given at the same time between August 31 and November 6 last year.

By comparison, in 2022 the death rate from Covid among those over 85 was 1,224 per 100,000.

This will be the first year that adults 60 and older will have access to a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus, which kills between 6,000 and 10,000 seniors each year.

Seniors will also receive three updated high-dose flu shots that contain three to four times the flu virus antigen to protect seniors.

The FDA analysis reported a 20 to 35 percent increased risk of stroke in older adults who received the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine with the flu vaccine at the same visit, compared with seniors who received only the bivalent Covid shot.

Dr. William Schaffner, a preventive medicine and infectious diseases fellow at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, closely studied the analysis before it was published.

Dr. Schaffner, a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s panel of vaccine experts, told DailyMail.com: ‘The short answer is no, this should not deter people from getting (Covid and flu shots) at the same time. I got the Covid and the flu in the same arm at the same time.

‘The data is very small and inconsistent in other databases – England, France and Israel have done similar look-back studies and found no similar risks. This is probably a statistical fluke or a very, very low increased risk compared to the risk of stroke after Covid or flu.”

In absolute terms, there were 3.1 additional strokes per 100,000 doses after the Pfizer and flu shots, and 3.3 strokes per 100,000 doses of flu and Moderna shots.

Dr. Lili Barouch, a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins University, told DailyMail.com: ‘That risk is small. It’s minuscule. I wouldn’t allow this to stop anyone from getting vaccines.

“If people are concerned about it spreading in a few weeks, that’s fine. People should get all the vaccines, so if they can do that all at once, that’s great, but I wouldn’t allow this small risk to keep them from getting vaccinated.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which issues nationwide vaccination recommendations for different age groups, has not taken a clear position on whether it is best to get all three shots at once or spread them out by a few weeks.

When DailyMail.com reached out for comment, the CDC gave the same recommendations as those published on its website.

Dr. Barouch, who is also director of the sports cardiology program at Hopkins, said, “Personally, I plan on getting them all at once and I usually get them in the same arm, so I don’t have two sore spots.” poor.

She added: ‘We don’t want to read too much into that small amount of information.’

More anxious adults may want to delay any vaccine for a week or two, a method that has not been shown to change the effectiveness of the vaccines.

According to the CDC, there is no recommended wait time between getting the Covid and flu shots.

Dr. William Schaffner, a preventive medicine and infectious disease fellow at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, told DailyMail.com that a two-week spacing is ideal.

For example, if you got a flu and Covid shot on one Saturday and the RSV shot two Saturdays after that, it would provide the same protection as all three at the same time.

Whether an older adult will receive the injections at the same time or over a few weeks will depend on conversations between them and their doctors.

Dr. Stuart Ray, an immunologist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said: ‘It is wise to have a conversation with one’s health care providers about that person’s individual risk. But I think it’s reasonable to consider spreading these out.

‘Some people are more at risk for vascular events than others. I think it also depends on whether that person is very vulnerable from a respiratory point of view. If he has chronic lung problems, an infection like RSV can cause serious illness.”

According to Dr. Ray, someone who has recently recovered from Covid likely won’t need a vaccine for a while because they still have residual immunity from recovery. Meanwhile, if a senior is often around children who can easily carry and transmit RSV, doctors may strongly recommend that they get the shot for extra protection.