If you’ve had a particularly rough short-term reaction to the COVID shot in the past, check what brand you got. If you had an mRNA vaccine in the past (Moderna or Pfizer), consider trying the Novavax vaccine this year rather than skipping your shot entirely. It provides a similar amount of coverage but uses a different technology, and studies show that it may cause fewer short-term effects like fever, chills, and body aches.
Another thing to try - if you’ve gotten your flu and COVID shots at the same time in the past, consider spacing them out. You generally want to get a flu shot ASAP since flu is spreading earlier than usual, but you may want to wait for about two weeks before getting your COVID shot. It can be hard to estimate the next COVID surge, but you can check COVID numbers and wastewater in your state or city, and when those numbers start to tick up, that’s the best time to go out and get your COVID shot. If that’s a little too much math for you, consider getting your COVID shot at least two weeks before Thanksgiving travel and gatherings. Your primary care provider can always give you the best guidance on these personal health issues.
El Niño could make for an unusual winter, with some parts of the country seeing warmer temperatures and others facing heavy rain and flooding. And since so many of our clients have locations across the country, what they need to prepare for could look very different from one location to the next. We liked this piece from Occupational Health & Safety about what might be ahead and what employers should be thinking about now.