CDC recommends everyone 6 months and older get an updated COVID-19 vaccine to protect against the potentially serious outcomes of COVID-19 illness this fall and winter. Updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna will be available later this week.

Vaccination remains the best protection against COVID-19-related hospitalization and death. Vaccination also reduces your chance of suffering the effects of Long COVID, which can develop during or following acute infection and last for an extended duration. If you have not received a COVID-19 vaccine in the past 2 months, get an updated COVID-19 vaccine to protect yourself this fall and winter.

Another concern is whether getting the Covid vaccine and the flu shot at the same time will negatively affect the body's immune response to one or both vaccines. The same recent study provides reassurance there, too. While researchers did find that antibody levels against the coronavirus were 16 percent lower in people who got both vaccines compared to those who only got the Covid booster, these levels were not "substantially inferior" given the margin of error in the study's sample size. And when the researchers followed up with participants 60 days after their vaccinations, none had gotten Covid-19.

Some experts believe that spreading out your shots might make sense if you can time them to just before each virus peaks. So while you may get the Covid vaccine this month, as cases rise in parts of the United States, you could consider waiting until later in the fall to get the flu shot. Flu cases typically peak between December and February; you can monitor flu activity in your state through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's influenza surveillance reports for more detailed information. A doctor can also help you decide the best strategy, especially if you have a high risk of severe disease or are immunocompromised.