Should you get your Covid and flu shots at the same time? New research suggests yes

A small study indicated that getting Covid and flu shots together could produce a stronger antibody response against the coronavirus than receiving them separately.

Covid and flu shots can be safely given at the same time, and according to a small new study, doing so may even confer benefits.

Findings presented Monday at the Vaccines Summit Boston, an annual scientific conference, suggest that giving Covid and flu shots together could produce a stronger antibody response against the coronavirus than administering the vaccines separately.

The study measured the antibody levels of 42 health care workers in Massachusetts who were vaccinated last fall. Twelve of the participants received a bivalent Covid booster and seasonal influenza shot on the same day. Another 30 received the shots on different days within the span of a month.

Three to four weeks after people got their Covid boosters, those who had received the flu shot at the same time had higher levels of IgG1, an antibody involved in the body's front-line defense against Covid. The results held true six months later, suggesting that co-administering the vaccines could improve long-term protection.

“We showed that the Covid antibody responses were higher and more durable if the Covid and flu vaccines were given on the same day,” said Susanna Barouch, the study’s lead author and an intern at the Ragon Institute's Systems Serology Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts.