Testing Underway on COVID-19 and Flu Combination Vaccines

As employers and facilities prepare for both the enforcement of mandatory COVID-19 vaccines and the flu season, a combination vaccine may provide a viable solution in the future, Infection Control Today reports.

Scientists are testing the combination of adenoviral vector or mRNA COVID-19 vaccines with an influenza vaccine. Although the vaccine combo is still in the testing stage, the first clinical trial has shown the combination is safe and appears to provide protection against COVID-19 and influenza, according to a paper published in The Lancet.

Investigators recruited 679 participants who had received the first dose of either the AstaZeneca (an adenoviral vector) vaccine or the Pfizer (an mRNA) vaccine. Among this group, they gave half of them an age-appropriate dosed flu vaccine along with the second dose of their COVID-19 vaccine, and the other half a placebo. Follow-up monitoring was available for 665 participants to determine any adverse effects and look for indicators of immunogenicity. The rates of medically assisted adverse events were similar between groups.

Researchers believe a combination vaccine might help alleviate vaccine hesitancy for both illnesses while reducing the burden on health care systems of administering two separate vaccines. The combination vaccine could be used to administer COVID-19 booster doses at the same time as season flu vaccines. Over time, this two-for-one vaccine could become the norm in many parts of the world.