mRNA is supposed to be more effective than traditional flu vaccine.
While I have chronic health concerns, I do not have a significant concern about traditional flu vaccine not providing me adequate protection from hospitalization due to flu. (But, I’m a homebody, and am rarely out in the world where I’d be exposed to sick people’s germs.)
While I do not share antivaxxer skepticism towards mRNA vaccinees, I do have my doubts about the quality of work being performed by the relevant American regulators these days, and therefore I think a rational person might prefer to wait until there’s more real-world experience with a new mRNA vaccine before opting for it when there are alternatives.
However, if there were reports of lesser side effects from the mRNA version, that might overcome any risk aversion I might have due to the vaccine’s novelty.
tl;dr: The correct answer probably depends on your circumstances and risk tolerances.
Yes, I have huge doubts about the quality of relevant American regulators. But relatively little doubt about the quality of the drug manufacturers. Googling suggests that MNRA flu vaccine may not be available at CVS around here yet. I’ll find out tomorrow when I call.
PCP did recommend I get both flu and COVID this week or next, considering that I have some travel plans in October and November, starting Oct 14. My current flu was also 12 months ago; current COVID in May.
It is not clear yet which strain will predominate. I also don’t know whether the mrna and traditional are targeting same strains. I don’t think they have shown mrna is more effective when targeting same strains.
Everyone is different, but fwiw, I’m fairly reactive to vaccines, and I’m now scheduling two “down days” after the covid vaccine, but i didn’t react much to the RSV vaccine. I don’t react much to the flu vaccine, either. But covid, tetanus, and shingles have all made me pretty unhappy. (My most recent tetanus shot wasn’t as bad as some, for whatever reason.)
My understanding is that they are targeting the same strains, and that the mRNA flu vaccine was found to be more effective, but also to have more side effects. The side effects were not considered dangerous. They were in the “sore arm” and “fever for a day” category. But i have such a strong and unpleasant reaction to the covid vaccine that I’m going to stick with the traditional flu vaccine. That might be unwise, as i believe I’m eligible for the mRNA one, and my husband is immune compromised. But i just don’t want to spend another day feeling sick.
Steve, getting a vaccine at least 2 weeks before your trips is probably more important than which vaccine you get.
FWIW, when I made my and my wife’s appointments, CVS only provided an option for “flu vaccine”. Google’s AI tells me that CVS is offering the mRNA version only in “select areas”, and only to folks aged 50+. I meet the second criteria, so I’m assuming that my local Target is not one of the “select areas”.
Good to know as contemplating the RSV for the first time along with flu and COVID. RSV is recommended here for over 75s but I have no other health issues which is the bigger determinant.
However, that link wants me to start by logging in to cvs.com. And whether I try to start from the link, or just by typing cvs.com into my browser, I don’t seem to be able to log in to cvs.com
Extremely minor discomfort at the injection site this morning. Not nearly enough to be a factor in which vaccine I would prefer. I can locate the record of the vaccination on CVS.com this morning. Was slightly surprised that it said (Inactivated)
My company is doing onsite flu vaccines next week. But I need to get myself a tetanus booster and am hoping to also get a Covid booster this year. Those will probably have to wait until after next weekend (traveling to Colorado for a family wedding).
I have found that the vaccines have never inhibited my weightlifting. However I strained my right arm a few months ago and have epicondylitis in it. That requires a workaround with the weights!
Interesting, but apparently irrelevant now. Wife, younger daughter and I were at Club Med Turkoise (Turks & Caicos) for two weeks in September. Right after our return, wife had symptoms she said were very COVID-like, but a home test was negative. Neither daughter nor I had any significant symptoms, and we didn’t test. We heard nothing about COVID being present while we were there, but recently the Club Med Facebook page for the resort says that there were COVID cases there both the last week we were there and the first week we were at home.
