Find out how to resolve whether to get them together

For the primary time ever, vaccines for Covid, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus can be found within the U.S. 

Public health officials are urging eligible Americans to take all three shots so the nation can avoid one other “tripledemic” of Covid, flu and RSV, which inundated hospitals last fall and winter. However the incontrovertible fact that some people can now receive three shots has raised questions on whether or not they should take the jabs abruptly or space them out.

Most individuals only need to think about whether or not they should get an updated Pfizer or Moderna Covid shot and a flu vaccine at the identical time, since each are broadly available to all Americans.

Public health officials, physicians and up to date research show that taking them through the same visit to the doctor or pharmacy is perfectly protected and effective. 

Meanwhile, the roughly 76.5 million adults ages 60 and older are eligible for a recent RSV vaccine from Pfizer or GSK, which implies they need to juggle all three shots this fall. A maternal vaccine from Pfizer protects infants against RSV, but that shot is not available just yet.

Health experts told CNBC that they do not expect any issues with taking all three shots directly.

Still, other experts note that there may be little research on administering an RSV shot with one other vaccine, or on giving all three shots together. People can decide to take the RSV jab in the event that they’re more comfortable with that, and do the opposite two at one other time.  

The alternative is ultimately as much as the person and what they consider is most ideal for them, and so they should be at liberty to seek the advice of their doctors in the event that they’re unsure, health experts said. 

“There hasn’t been any evidence that there may be any risk of getting all three at the identical time,” Dr. Ali Alhassani, a physician at Boston Kid’s Hospital, told CNBC. He noted that administering multiple vaccines is not unusual since children often receive as much as five routine immunizations directly. 

Similarly, Dr. Andrew Pekosz, a professor on the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said he doesn’t “want people to think there shall be any problems with taking them together because there probably is not.”

But he also noted that “without data, I don’t desire to go completely excessive and provides a extremely firm advice that everybody should get all three at the identical time.”

Some research even shows that many individuals don’t come back once they need to take a second shot, based on Johns Hopkins’ Pekosz. 

For instance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends two to 3 doses of an HPV vaccine for certain Americans. But studies have shown that uptake of HPV shots declines between the primary and subsequent doses.

The U.S. encountered the same issue through the first Covid vaccine rollout in 2020 and 2021. Many Americans missed their second primary series dose. 

“It’s clear that if people need to return to the pharmacy on two different occasions, there’s at all times an attrition rate,” Pekosz told CNBC. “So, it’s higher to get them in your arm through the same visit relatively than not getting the second since you get too busy to return.”

Pharmacies allow Americans to schedule multiple vaccine appointments in a single visit. For example, Kroger‘s online scheduling tool allows eligible people to pick out up to 3 vaccines to take directly.

Individuals who use that tool and help from Kroger’s clinicians, pharmacists and physician assistants to find out which vaccines are appropriate for them, Dr. Marc Watkins, Kroger Health’s chief medical officer, told CNBC.