Inside the COVID Vaccine Race That No One Is Talking About

My past couple COVID-19 booster shots have coincided with the start of flu season, and I’ve faced a deliberation in the line at my local pharmacy that seems to have become commonplace: Do I want both shots at once? I wound up agreeing to a shot in each arm, and was good to go after a couple days of trying not to sleep on either side.

Admittedly, this is the pinnacle of champagne problems, especially compared to what life was like during the pandemic when vaccines were not readily available. But it’s one that many people have faced, enough to prompt specific guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (they say it’s safe to get both shots at once, and individuals can decide to receive one in each arm or both into one arm. The CDC did note, however, that people who received both a COVID booster and flu shot concurrently were slightly more likely to experience side effects like headache, fatigue, and muscle ache than those who got COVID boosters on their own.)

These statistics were enough to make Northeastern University pharmaceutical sciences researcher Mansoor Amiji hesitate when asked if he wanted to add a flu shot onto his scheduled COVID booster last year, he told The Daily Beast.

Read more at The Daily Beast.