Vaccination Guidelines 2nd Edition

Let me first clarify the issue that everyone is most concerned about - healthy adults who have no contraindications to vaccination can choose vaccines of all technical routes approved in the country, and the protective effect is not very different.； Elderly people over 60 years old, people with underlying diseases, and people with immune deficiencies should give priority to multivalent recombinant protein vaccines that cover more complete virus strains, which can increase the severe protection rate by about 15%. ； If you are allergic to vaccine components or have a recent history of taking immunosuppressants, please seek evaluation from a doctor at the vaccination site first. Do not make blind choices on your own. ； After routine vaccination, arm pain and low fever are normal. If no relief occurs within 3 days, go to the hospital. ； The interval between the booster shot and the previous shot/last positive test should be at least 6 months. There is no need to blindly chase new vaccines that have just been launched.

This version is compiled based on the practical details I recently talked with doctors at community vaccination sites and friends from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the pitfalls that people have encountered the most in the past six months. It has a lot less dry official terms than the first version, and it is all content that can be actually used.

Last week, Aunt Zhang from the community dragged me to ask if she had type 2 diabetes and was allergic to penicillin. If she could get the latest polyvalent vaccine, I accompanied her to the vaccination site and asked. The doctor said that as long as her fasting blood sugar was stable below 10 and there were no other acute complications, the penicillin allergy would not affect her at all. She got the shot that day and has been fine for a week now. In the past, many people struggled with the issue of choosing a technical route. There was a fierce quarrel between two groups on the Internet. One group said that "non-inactivated vaccines should not be used, and other vaccines are risky." All the vaccines in this batch have been clinically verified for three phases, and the adverse reaction rates are within the safe range. If you had no reaction before inactivating it, then it will be no problem to inactivate it next time. If you want to protect for a longer time, it is OK to choose recombinant protein. There is really not much difference.

Oh, by the way, many people have asked if they can get vaccinated if they have a cold. I had a runny nose last month but no fever. I went to the vaccination site and asked the doctor and he said it is absolutely fine. However, if you have been taking antibiotics recently, or just had chemotherapy/immunosuppressants, it is best to stop taking the medicine first or wait until your condition is stable before seeing a doctor for evaluation. Don't force it.

When it comes to adverse reactions, do I have a say? When I got a booster shot last year, my arm hurt for two days and I couldn't lift it. I thought it was broken at the time, so I took a photo to show to my nurse friend. They laughed at me for making such a fuss, saying that the incidence of local redness, swelling and pain is about 30%. I used a hot towel to apply it for two days. Just fine, some people will have a low fever. As long as it doesn’t exceed 38.5, just drink plenty of fluids and rest, and you don’t need to take antipyretics. But if you can’t breathe, have a rash all over your body, or have a fever for more than 3 days, don’t worry, go to the hospital quickly. Although the probability of such a severe allergic reaction is only a few in a million, you can’t be careless.

There is also the "vaccine futility theory" that has been very hotly debated on the Internet recently, saying that vaccination will still cause symptoms and is useless, and there is another school that says "a booster shot should be given every three months." Both of these views are too extreme. Existing public data shows that the current vaccine's effectiveness in preventing severe disease can still be maintained at more than 80%, but the protection against infection does drop quickly due to the mutation of virus strains. Therefore, if you are a healthy young person who works in the office every day, once a year is enough. If you are a doctor or elderly person who often goes to the hospital, comes into contact with other people, you can get vaccinated once every six months to a year. It is not necessary to be vaccinated once every three months, which will increase the probability of adverse reactions.

Oh yes, there is another pitfall that many people have stepped on. If you have recently received the HPV vaccine, shingles vaccine or other inactivated vaccines, it is best to wait 14 days before taking the COVID-19 or influenza vaccine. My colleague tried to save time last month by taking the two vaccines 3 days apart. As a result, he had a fever for a day and lay in a coma for two days. He originally wanted to save time, but instead delayed work.

In fact, this version of the guide has been updated a lot. The core point is that there is no unified standard answer. You don’t need to listen to random suggestions from people on the Internet. Everyone’s physical condition is different. If you are unsure, go directly to the vaccination site and ask the doctor. They handle hundreds of vaccinations every day, which is much more reliable than the half-baked popular science you search for three hours on the Internet. The purpose of getting vaccinated is to add a buff to your health. Don’t burden yourself by worrying about what to choose.