The right time for vaccinations

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Since school started, it’s been hard to miss: More children and adults are getting sick. The COVID-19-based monitoring numbers are already rising, and an intense flu season could be on the horizon, too. You can protect yourself with vaccinations. But when is the right time for which vaccination?

Regardless of the individual’s prior immunizations, only one coronavirus vaccination is advised this year. Appointments can already be booked online and by phone, says Katharina Reich, Director General for Public Health, in an interview with Ö1, adding that the vaccine delivery has already occurred. The vaccination offers in the respective provinces can be found online, or one can ask in the family doctor’s office whether the vaccine is already available.

Reich says only the newly adapted CoV vaccine is available in Austria. The costs are covered by health insurance. Vaccination is recommended for everyone over the age of twelve, but especially over the age of sixty, for pregnant women, and people with chronic diseases, such as those with diabetes, metabolic disorders and autoimmune diseases. The particular vaccination recommendation also applies to people in nursing homes and health care workers.

It is possible to administer two vaccinations at once.
A little later – on October 2 – the flu vaccination campaign will start this year, for the first time uniformly throughout Austria. The flu vaccination also costs the same everywhere, namely seven euros. You no longer have to get the vaccine yourself in advance at the pharmacy. The Ministry of Health recommends the flu vaccination, especially because Australia has experienced a strong wave of influenza this year. This could be a possible indicator of a more intense season in Europe as well.

You can also be vaccinated against Corona and influenza at the same time; there is, in any case, no reason not to do so, says Reich: It is practical, and you have virtually “done everything in one wash-up.” However, this combination vaccination is not recommendable if one reacts strongly to vaccinations in general. In this case, an interval of at least two weeks between the individual vaccinations is recommended.

RSV vaccination is already available
The RS virus can also cause severe illnesses, especially in babies, young children, and older people. New vaccines are coming onto the market here for the first time this year; immunization is particularly recommended for people over sixty and pregnant women. The vaccine for older people is already available in Austria; it must be paid privately and costs 275 euros. Pregnant women can get the vaccination starting in October, according to the Chamber of Pharmacists.

Another RSV vaccine, which must be administered once per season and approved for children, is not yet available in Austria. High-risk children who are particularly at risk can only be protected by passive immunization. This involves a monoclonal antibody, which must be administered monthly.