It will soon be possible to be vaccinated against Covid-19 and flu: who will receive the booster?

It will happen in ten days. Winter is just around the corner and vaccinations against Covid-19 and the flu will start in mid-October. The flu vaccination is recommended by the Federal Office for Public Health (FOPH) and the Ekif Vaccination Committee for people aged 65 and over, pregnant women, premature children up to two years of age and people with chronic diseases. The recommendation is now also aimed at all people who have regular contact with poultry or wild birds.

The flu vaccination should be carried out no later than the beginning of the flu epidemic, which starts in January. Three conventional flu vaccines are available for 2023: Fluarix Tetra from three years of age and Vaxigrip Tetra from six months. The Efluelda vaccine contains a higher amount of antigen and is approved for people aged 65 and over.

The advice against flu is roughly the same as that against Corona. Younger risk groups and especially people over 65 are also recommended to be vaccinated with the latest vaccine against the Sars-CoV-2 virus.

There are currently two vaccines available against Corona: The two updated mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna have already been approved by Swissmedic. Both mRNA vaccines are adapted to the omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 and should also protect against other new variants such as EG.5.1, according to the latest findings. It is reinforced once with one dose.

Pfizer’s Comirnaty has been approved for children 12 and older since September 22, and Moderna’s Spikevax has been approved for children 18 and older since September 29, as Swissmedic’s Alex Josty explains. According to the BAG advice, vaccinations should be carried out between mid-October and mid-December. Novavax’s new Nuvaxovid, which is also adapted to XBB.1.5, is still in the approval process.

The booster is now ready, but according to a study commissioned by Tamedia, only 53 percent of people over 65 want to be vaccinated again. More than a quarter of the younger age group wants to be vaccinated, but there is no vaccination advice for these people. But you can get vaccinated.

The research shows that men are more willing to take a booster than women. Party membership was also asked. The differences here are big. Only one in ten of the SVP wants to be vaccinated, six of the GLP. The willingness of the FDP, the Center and the SP is greater and is around 50 percent.

“The recommendation is clear and for this group of particularly vulnerable people there are good reasons to vaccinate and prevent serious diseases,” said Christoph Berger, infectiologist at the Zurich Children’s Hospital and head of the Federal Vaccination Committee EKIF. The infectiologists and doctors support this advice from the EKIF and the BAG. “In the end, everyone decides for themselves,” says Berger. Everyone should make this decision for themselves, regardless of their political views, if possible.

The vaccination is specifically recommended for people who are particularly at risk. However, no recommendation has been made for the younger population without underlying diseases, as the risk of becoming seriously ill from Covid-19 is very low. And because the vaccination does not provide good protection against annoying but mild infections, it therefore does not risk hospitalization, Berger explains.

For seniors, a flu and Covid vaccination are recommended, which can be done at the same time or with a delay. In the future this will also be possible with a single shovel. Moderna is currently reporting successful phase 1 and 2 trials for mRNA-1083, a combination vaccine against influenza and Covid-19. The company plans to begin a Phase 3 trial for mRNA-1083 in 2023 and is targeting possible approval of the combination vaccine in 2025. (aargauerzeitung.ch)