Health officials say parents don’t need to worry about mixing the flu and COVID vaccines

COLUMBIA, Mo (KMIZ)

COVID-19 is still present in the world and now a more familiar season is nearing. Health officials are encouraging everyone to still use the same safety measures as they do for COVID.

Officials are encouraging everyone to wash their hands, wear a mask or get the flu and COVID 19 vaccine.

Sara Humm, spokesperson for Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services, says the flu vaccine and the COVID vaccine treats different illnesses.

"The vaccinations that are for those are different things. Regarding mixing the vaccines, you can get a flu vaccine and a COVID vaccine on the same day if you want to," said Humm.

Chris Wilhelm, a pediatrician at MU Health Care, said there is also an increase of the respiratory virus in kids called RSV.

RSV is respiratory virus that causes cold-like symptoms. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, RSV can be dangerous for some infants and children.

Wilhelm said its uncommon to see this virus in summer months . "This was the first year that I saw and diagnosed a child with RSV in the months of July and August."

In some cases, Humm said that symptoms of different viruses can overlap. "If were talking about something like sneezing or stuffy nose that could be more allergy related than it is COVID related," said Humm.

Humm said it's still too early to track flu cases. Wilhelm said he sees the benefit of wearing a face mask and that they helped last winter also.

"So, the masks are providing a benefit and we have seen that in the sense that, from a pediatrician standpoint, we didn't have a RSV or Flu season last year because we were all wearing masks," says Humm.

Missouri flu season runs from Oct. 3 until May 22. According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior services, in the 2020-2021 flu season, 1,795 Influenza cases were reported.

To explore more of the data, click here.