How to decide whether to get them together

For the first time ever, vaccines for Covid, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus are available in the U.S. 

Public health officials are urging eligible Americans to take all three shots so the nation can avoid another “tripledemic” of Covid, flu and RSV, which inundated hospitals last fall and winter. But the fact that some people can now receive three shots has raised questions about whether they should take the jabs all at once or space them out.

Most people only need to consider whether they should get an updated Pfizer or Moderna Covid shot and a flu vaccine at the same time, since both are broadly available to all Americans. Public health officials, physicians and recent research show that taking them during the same visit to the doctor or pharmacy is perfectly safe and effective. 

Meanwhile, the roughly 76.5 million adults ages 60 and older are eligible for a new RSV vaccine from Pfizer or GSK, which means they have to juggle all three shots this fall. A maternal vaccine from Pfizer protects infants against RSV, but that shot isn’t available just yet.

Health experts told CNBC that they don’t expect any issues with taking all three shots at once.

Still, other experts note that there is little research on administering an RSV shot with another vaccine, or on giving all three shots together. People can choose to take the RSV jab if they’re more comfortable with that, and do the other two at another time.  

The choice is ultimately up to the individual and what they believe is most ideal for them, and they should feel free to consult their doctors if they’re unsure, health experts said. 

“There hasn’t been any evidence that there is any risk of getting all three at the same time,” Dr. Ali Alhassani, a physician at Boston Children’s Hospital, told CNBC. He noted that administering multiple vaccines isn’t unusual since children often receive up to five routine immunizations at once. 

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

But he also noted that “without data, I don’t want to go completely over the top and give a really firm recommendation that everyone should get all three at the same time.”

Some research even shows that many people don’t come back when they have to take a second shot, according to Johns Hopkins’ Pekosz. 

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

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

“It’s clear that if people have to go back to the pharmacy on two different occasions, there’s always an attrition rate,” Pekosz told CNBC. “So, it’s better to get them in your arm during the same visit rather than not getting the second one because you get too busy to go back.”

Pharmacies allow Americans to schedule multiple vaccine appointments in one visit. For instance, Kroger‘s online scheduling tool allows eligible people to select up to three vaccines to take at once.

People who use that tool and help from Kroger’s clinicians, pharmacists and physician assistants to determine which vaccines are appropriate for them and whether they should take them at the same time, Dr. Marc Watkins, Kroger Health’s chief medical officer, told CNBC.