Q: I’m a 68-year-old rather healthy woman, aside from longstanding asthma for which I take several medications. My doctor’s office called me to schedule a visit to receive vaccines against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza and COVID-19 (a booster, since I’ve already had five COVID shots in the last three years). The nurse explained that, because I had a case of “walking pneumonia” last winter, the doctor feels it is important to get these vaccines.
I’m concerned about getting that many vaccines on the same day. Is there any recent information available on this topic that would help me make the best decision about this?
A: There is. A recent medical conference on vaccines, here in Michigan, included a presentation on this very topic. It was pointed out that approximately 150 children die each year in the U.S. from RSV, but that the disease kills about 14,000 adults each year.
Studies have shown that individuals receiving all three of these vaccines on the same day report no more severe side effects than those receiving only one. These consist mainly of local side effects, like aching at the injection site that usually resolves by the following day, and systemic side effects, such as fatigue, generalized achiness and low-grade fever, all of which are generally quite mild and clear up within two to four days. In your case, your immune system is quite capable of responding to multiple potential bacterial/viral invaders at the same time; otherwise, you would not have survived to your current age.
The mentioned side effects can be minimized by having the several injection sites be at least one inch apart or be given in separate extremities. Indeed, our immune systems are largely responsible for the survival of our species for the last 100,000 years or so, during most of which humans lived in frankly filthy conditions.
Medical advances in the last 100 years have allowed individuals with previously fatal diseases to survive much longer.
That’s made possible by taking medications that might make one more susceptible to bacterial or viral diseases, such as immunosuppressants, high-dose steroids and most anticancer drugs. Anyone on these medications, regardless of age, should discuss with their personal physician the best plan to minimize the impact of these three diseases.
I want to thank Eunice P. for this question. To learn more about this and many other health topics, visit the American Academy of Family Physicians’ website, familydoctor.org, where you can search for your topic of interest.
If you have a topic you would like to hear more about, please message me at paulmdake@gmail.com.
Dr. Paul Dake, a Newberry native, is a retired family physician. He lives in Pinconning, Michigan.
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Studies have shown that individuals receiving all three of these vaccines on the same day report no more severe side effects than those receiving only one. These consist mainly of local side effects.
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