How flu vaccines can help in COVID-19 fight

With fall approaching and winter just around the corner, many are wondering how COVID-19 will affect this flu season. Some experts warn of a “twindemic,” with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the onset of influenza overlapping here in the Northern Hemisphere. To keep people healthy and not overload the health care system, experts say getting a flu vaccine this year is more important than ever.

On the Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Gregory Poland, an infectious diseases expert and head of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group, discusses flu vaccinations and shares some good news from the Southern Hemisphere's flu season.

To practice safe social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, this interview was conducted using video conferencing. The sound and video quality are representative of the technology used.

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Dr. Poland has served as a consultant for Merck & Co. Inc., Medicago Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc, Sanofi Pasteur, Emergent BioSolutions Inc., Dynavax Technologies Corp., Genentech Inc., Eli Lilly and Co., Kentucky BioProcessing Inc. and Genevant Sciences Corp., and Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. He is a paid scientific adviser for Johnson & Johnson. Honoraria: Elsevier.