Health – Winter vaccines as important as ever

Amazingly enough, it’s already time to start considering your winter vaccines this year, namely influenza and Covid. The Northern Hemisphere is dubbing this winter’s flu as the “Super Flu” because it’s unusually contagious, with US cases now at their highest in a decade. Authorities think it may be because the strain infecting people is a strain of influenza A (H3N2) that hasn’t been around for a few years, so there is not as much natural immunity and also lower rates of vaccinations in the U.S have left their population more vulnerable.

Which flu vaccine should I get?

The funded vaccine in New Zealand this year is Influvac TetraTM. This vaccination offers protection against three different strains of flu, including the highly infectious H3N2. If you are 65 years or older, or have a long term health condition such as asthma, this vaccination is funded for you. You can find out if your flu vaccine will be funded by visiting www.info.health.nz and searching “flu” . If you are not eligible, this flu vaccine may also be purchased from your health care provider.

Other influenza vaccines may offer better protection and can be purchased. For example, if you are over 50 years old, you might like to purchase the FLUAD QuadTM vaccine. This vaccine protects against  an additional strain of the virus, but more importantly, contains an extra ingredient to boost your immune response to the vaccine and thus give you better immunity.

If you are under 50 years old, you may wish to purchase an alternative influenza vaccine, such as FLUCELVAX QuadTM. This is manufactured differently to Influvac TetraTM. Studies indicate this vaccine may therefore be up to 15 per cent more effective. This vaccine also protects against an additional strain of the influenza virus.

Influenza Vaccinations become available on April 1, so book with your health provider now.

Time for Covid  too?

Even though I described Covid as a winter vaccine, we also see waves of Covid in the summer. This means you will need to have a Covid vaccine every six months. The Pfizer rep has just been in store and confirmed that the updated strain of the vaccine will be released around March 2. That means that if it has been six months or longer since your last vaccine, it is time to get yourself vaccinated again, especially after the new strain becomes available.