Multiple studies link flu vaccination to increased risk of COVID. One analysis found that European countries with the highest COVID-19 death rates had high rates of flu vaccination — at least 50% — among the elderly.
Story at-a-glance:
- Among people aged 65 years and older, flu vaccination was positively associated with COVID-19 deaths, meaning those who got a flu vaccine were more likely to die from COVID-19.
- A May 2020 analysis by online news publication The Gateway Pundit similarly found that European countries with the highest COVID-19 death rates had high rates of flu vaccination — at least 50% — among the elderly.
- Previous coronavirus vaccines have been linked to enhanced disease; it’s suggested flu vaccination could potentially contribute to COVID-19 via pathogenic priming, a scenario in which, rather than enhancing your immunity against the infection, exposure to a vaccine results in more severe disease.
- Given the increasing research suggesting flu vaccination may worsen viral illness, flu vaccines should be evaluated as potential causative agents or, at least, contributors to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For years, concerns have been raised that previous flu vaccination seems to increase patients’ risk of contracting more severe pandemic illness. This occurred during the 2008 to 2009 flu season, when prior vaccination with the seasonal flu vaccine was associated with an increased risk of H1N1 “swine flu” during spring/summer 2009 in Canada.