How to Talk to Patients about Coadministration of Influenza and COVID-19 Vaccines This Year

"Studies have shown that about 42% of people who are vaccine-hesitant are more likely to get vaccinated if they can do so at the site of their normal care" observed Sterling Ransone, Jr, MD, in a recent conversation with Patient Care®.

The conversation with Ransone, who is board chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), was about coadministering the influenza and COVID-19 vaccines during the 2022-2023 respiratory virus season. Ransone underscored the comfort and reassurance many patients experience when they can talk through their concerns about getting both shots with a clinician they know and trust. "We can ask if they have questions about the vaccines and vaccination since their last visit," he said, "and we have the chance to counter misinformation and disinformation."

If a patient prefers to get just COVID or just flu at one visit, Ransone makes some suggestions in this short video on how to make sure that person comes back to get the other one.

For more conversations with Dr Ransone:

AAFP Board Chair Sterling Ransone, Jr, MD, Has Concerns About Flu Season 2022-2023

Will This be the Year of the Twindemic? AAFP Board Chair Ransone Thinks Out Loud with Patient Care

AAFP Tips on Getting Shots into Arms this Flu Season, with Sterling Ransone, Jr, MD

Sterling Ransone, Jr, MD, is board chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians and a clinical assistant professor of medicine and population health at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. He is the physician practice director at Riverside Fishing Bay Family Practice in Deltaville, VA.