Winter Vaccinations: Get Your COVID-19 Boosters & Flu Vaccines Now!

If you’re living with a condition which affects your immune system like scleroderma, or if you’re immunocompromised or immunosuppressed because of the medications you take for the condition, the risk of contracting an infection such as COVID-19 or the flu can be a frightening prospect. Cases of both viruses are expected to rise in the UK this winter, with experts predicting that we could be in for an especially tough winter in terms of flu. This means that it is as important as ever to make sure that you, and those in close contact to you, are protected from infection before winter rolls around.

To help protect those at risk from both infections, the NHS is currently offering free flu vaccines and an autumn COVID booster to those with weakened immune systems, the over 50s, and household members of those who are deemed clinically vulnerable. These vaccines can reduce your chances of catching the viruses and getting seriously ill as a result of them.

The NHS is also making it easier to get your flu and COVID vaccines at the same time, to lower the risks of transmission associated with going and receiving the two vaccines on separate occasions.

Protection Against Flu this Winter

Flu can make some people seriously ill and can even be life threatening, particularly for people with certain health conditions which affect the immune system, like scleroderma. The flu vaccine is safe and effective, and it’s offered every year through the NHS to help protect people at risk of getting seriously ill from flu.

If you’re eligible for the vaccine, it’s important to get it every year because the viruses that cause flu frequently change. The NHS say that it’s more important than ever to get the flu vaccine, as fewer people will have built up natural immunity to the virus during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As such, the best time to get vaccinated is in the autumn or early winter before flu starts spreading, and the COVID-19 vaccines and the flu vaccine can be given on the same day for people who are eligible for both. If you can’t get both vaccines at the same time, you should get each vaccination as soon as you can for better protection ahead of winter, rather than waiting for winter to begin.

Protection Against COVID this Winter

So far, over 2 million people have received an additional COVID booster as part of the autumn vaccination programme. These boosters have been made available to those who are vulnerable to COVID, including many people with scleroderma, as a result of having a weakened immune system. However, as many members of the SRUK community will recognise, there is still a risk of catching the virus, especially if you share a household with other people who aren’t vulnerable so haven’t recently received a booster.

To maximise protection against COVID over the winter, the NHS is now extending the offer of COVID boosters to people living within the same household as someone who is immunosuppressed. You are also now able to self-declare to receive a booster, meaning that if you’re immunosuppressed or sharing a household with someone that is, you’ll be able to get a booster if you can provide evidence that you’re vulnerable or living with a vulnerable person.

You can receive your autumn booster if it's been at least 3 months since you had your previous dose. If you have a weakened immune system and haven’t yet got a booster this autumn, you can book online without waiting to be invited. Equally, it’s not too late to get an earlier dose of the vaccine if you need one – if you haven’t had your 1^st or 2^nd dose of the vaccine yet, you should try and make sure you have both as soon as you can, and shouldn’t wait until winter begins. It’s important to remember that even if you’ve been told you might not mount a proper response to the vaccine because you’re immunosuppressed, some level of protection is better than no protection at all, so you could still benefit from receiving a vaccine or booster dose.

All vaccines used to date have been designed to target the original strain of COVID-19, but they have remained effective at preventing severe illness against later variants such as Omicron. However, the NHS is also the first healthcare system in the world to use the next generation, bivalent COVID-19 vaccine in the autumn vaccination campaign, which targets both Omicron and the original strain. But for those eligible, getting vaccinated in good time ahead of winter when viruses circulate most is more important than the type of vaccine given, and all available vaccines provide good protection against severe illness from COVID-19.

To book your booster online, visit: www.nhs.uk/get-vaccination or to find your nearest walk-in centre, visit: www.nhs.uk/vaccine-walk-in. If you can’t book online, you can also phone 119 free of charge to book, between 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday, or 8am to 4pm Saturday and Sunday.