Get vaccinated against the seasonal flu on November 22 or 24
Soon, the seasonal flu is rolling in across the country. As last year, the management has decided to offer all employees, in both the University Dental Clinic and in the Department of Dental Medicine, to get vaccinated against the flu.
The vaccination is carried out by the Occupational Health Care supplier Avonova at drop-in:
- Tuesday 22 November at 13–16 in the seminar room Konrad, floor 6
- Thursday 24 November at 08–12 in the seminar room Konrad, floor 6.
Fill out vaccination form
Before you can get vaccinated, you need to fill out the below vaccination form. Print it out in advance, fill it out and bring it to the nurse.
Information on the influenza vaccination 2022-2023 from Avonova
When should you get the vaccination?
It is best to get the influenza vaccination before the flu season, preferably in November–December. However, you can also get the vaccination in the new year.
Getting vaccinated in the middle of a flu epidemic is also not a bad idea. However, it takes a few weeks before the vaccination offers protection. For those who have already been infected with the flu, the vaccine won’t have time to prevent illness caused by the influenza virus in question. However, the vaccine may protect against other influenza viruses circulating at a later date.
Is the influenza vaccine safe?
The influenza vaccine is safe. The injected vaccine has been in use for over 40 years and hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine have been administered. All vaccines have side effects, but side effects only occur in a small proportion of people who are vaccinated.
- Injected vaccines cause redness and soreness at the injection site.
- Sometimes people who have been vaccinated develop muscle and joint pain, headache or fever. These symptoms go away after a few days and the fever and pain can be treated with painkillers.
Other side effects are rare. Serious adverse reactions are extremely rare.
How long has Vaxigriptetra been used?
Avonova is offering its customers Sanofi’s Vaxigrip Tetra vaccine. In practice, the ingredients used in the VaxigripTetra vaccine are the same as in the Vaxigrip vaccine. It is produced by the same pharmaceuticals company and has been used since 1968 in more than 1.8 billion doses. The only difference is that Vaxigrip offered protection against three influenza viruses while VaxigripTetra protects against four viruses.
VaxigripTetra has been widely used in Europe since 2016. By the end of 2020, a total of 140 million doses had been distributed.
Does the influenza vaccination offer me 100% protection?
The influenza vaccination does not offer complete protection against influenza. In people of working age, the protection against influenza offered by the vaccine is between 70% and 90% if the vaccine viruses correspond to the influenza viruses circulating among a large proportion of the population. The vaccine does not guarantee that a person won’t transmit infection, but is nonetheless the best way to ensure that people do not spread the flu while infected with symptoms, infected without symptoms, or even the day before symptoms appear.
Is it possible to receive the influenza vaccination and the Covid-19 vaccination at the same time?
A standard dose of the influenza vaccine can be administered at the same time as the Covid-19 vaccination. In cases of simultaneous vaccination, different injection sites are used. High-dose flu vaccines and Covid-19 vaccines should be administered at least seven days apart.
What is the advice for at-risk groups and pregnant people?
For people designated as ‘at risk’, that is, persons over the age of 65 or people with certain underlying illnesses, the vaccine is offered free of charge or at a reduced cost via the regional authorities, but employers are also welcome to pay for vaccination. You can also receive the vaccine if you are pregnant. Vaccination is recommended after week 12 of pregnancy because the risk of severe illness from flu is higher in the latter part of pregnancy, but vaccination is safe at any time during pregnancy.
Avonova does not normally offer vaccinations where there is a risk of a severe allergic reaction:
- Egg allergy
- Known allergy to one of the vaccine ingredients
- History of allergic reaction to vaccines
In these cases, please contact a different healthcare provider/vaccination clinic.
For up-to-date information, please see the Public Health Agency of Sweden website: Influenza – About vaccination – Public Health Agency of Sweden(folkhalsomyndigheten.se)