The US is planning to start earlier this year with administering flu shots, hoping that this will ease pressure on testing facilities and hospitals during the continuing coronavirus crisis.
The Guardian reports that vaccine makers will be providing around 200 million flu shots to the US this year, around 20% more than usual.
“If we can eliminate the dynamic of people getting symptoms and their first reaction is ‘is this the seasonal flu or is this Covid,’ it can take demand off of Covid-19 testing,” CVS Health chief executive Larry Merlo told Reuters.
Other experts noted that the same people who are most vulnerable to Covid-19 (such as the elderly and those with respiratory conditions) are also at greatest risk for the flu.
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation is anticipating an increase in Covid-19 cases in the coming months, resulting in around 300,000 total deaths by the end of the year. So far, around 160,000 people have died.
However, it should be noted that several studies have demonstrated that there is a risk that getting inoculated against the flu too early in the season can leave a patient vulnerable to contracting the virus later in winter, if the effect of the shot wears off.