I got the flu shot I think in February
this year.
[Reporter: Nicole Ireland] But 65-year-old Alina Gruder isn't sure she'll do it this fall.
Isolated with her husband, she worries if
she ventures out of her bubble
to get a flu shot
she could expose herself to COVID-19.
It's a worry to go to the clinic when
the community spread is high.
[Reporter] That kind of thinkingm especially among seniors worries infectious disease specialists.
This is the year to get vaccinated especially for our high-risk individuals.
[Reporter] Health experts are trying to avoid a 'twindemic' this fall and winter
with a large number of people falling ill as both the flu and COVID-19 circulate in the community.
Seniors and people with underlying health conditions are most at risk
of complications and hospitalizations from either virus.
But unlike COVID-19,  there's a vaccine to help prevent the flu.
That's why provinces and territories have bumped their flu shot orders up by almost 25 percent.
By this time last year, Canada had purchased 11.2 million doses
This year we're getting 13.7 million.
The public health agency of Canada says it's the largest order of influenza vaccine
this country has ever placed.
But that means a lot of pressure on the doctors, nurses and pharmacists
who administer the flu vaccine to meet the high demand
while keeping everyone safe from COVID-19.
We can't just have you know 50, 60 people
an hour coming in to our clinic
to get their vaccine because it's just too many people coming in too quickly
with crowds and exposures.
Public health agencies are providing guidance
including spacing people apart, requiring masks and COVID-19 screenings.
We may also start seeing outdoor flu shot clinics and drive-through vaccinations.
I think this will be reassuring.
Once she sees those safety measures in place
Alina Gruter may get her flu shot after
all.
Nicole Ireland, CBC News, Toronto.
Now epidemiologist Raywat Deonandan joining us now
because a lot of people have been asking us whether the flu vaccine
affects one's chances of getting COVID-19.
Is there a link there?
The answer is no it doesn't affect your chances.
There is a study out of Brazil that found that amongst COVID sufferers
those who had the flu vaccine had a lesser bad outcome than those who didn't have a flu vaccine.
But in general the best evidence says there is no relationship
except that the flu vaccine prevents the flu
which means that you're going to be healthy if you get the flu vaccine
and being healthy makes you more resistant to a variety of things including COVID.
OK and so and so on the thought of of
this 'twindemic.'
I mean is this flu season expected to be
particularly bad?
No, in fact i think it's the opposite.
What we see from the southern hemisphere
is that people have been distancing and wearing mass and washing their hands
so we have a less serious flu experience.
However, that doesn't mean that the flu won't be here
which means that because it presents with similar symptoms as COVID
it'll cause some confusion and chaos at the clinical level.
So we don't want to be monitoring two different curves at the same time.
And for those people who get the flu and COVID, there's a special kind of suffering there
so it's important that people get the vaccine to take that one disease
the flu out of the picture as much as possible.
And when do you figure most Canadians will be able to get the flu shot this year?
The same as we have in the past.
Mid-September to mid-October, around there.
The Americans have it already so that's good for them.
But we'll get it sometime in the fall.
All right, always good to hear from you, thank you so much for your time.
Thank you.
