Should people over 65 get Prevnar13 pneumonia vaccine during COVID-19?

@curios2know – Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Mayo Clinic Connect is an online community where you can share your experiences and find support from people like you.
Your question, as it appears to be specific to treatment, should be directed to your Health Care Provider. I was not able to find any credible information on line to direct you to.
Do you have a family physician you can contact?

Yes, have a PCP, but looking for guidance from a physician/practitioner specializing in immunology, infectious disease or a seasoned pulmonologist, as I believe their insight and/or experience would likely be more pertinent to the question than that of my family physician.

Welcome to Connect @curious2know - We are not medical professionals, We can not answer medical questions like this. We are patients helping other patients. You ask a fantastic question. Perhaps call your pharmacist or PCP to see if it's ok, then see if there are any available if it's still ok to have the shot. It will not protect you from COVID-19. What is your major concern with having the shot if it's available and ok to get?

Hello@curious2know - I agree that a specialist would be able to answer your question.
Given most of us as patients do not have direct access to specialists, your doctor is the person to direct this question to. She/he should have the resources to get you accurate information specific to your condition.

@curious2know - Very good question. CDC.gov is a good official site discussing immunizations. As far as I know the vaccine- as well as all others- can be given to anyone not acutely ill. Your family physician should know this. This is definitely a good time to get it. We don’t know how long the virus will be a danger. With the vaccine you can prevent pneumococcal pneumonia. There are other pneumonias not covered.

@curious2know as others have mentioned, the answer to your question is best answered by your doctor, so that she or he can give you advice relevant to your health status. As @astaingegerdm suggested, currently medical professionals and infectious disease specialists advise at this time get flu and pneumonia vaccines to help avoid getting other these illnesses and keep you as healthy as possible. Flu and pneumonia vaccines don't protect against COVID-19.

Here is some information that I found from the Government of British Columbia, Canada's website (https://immunizebc.ca/question-categories/pneumococcal-vaccines) that addresses your questions specifically.

EXCERPT
Question: Should I get the Prevnar 13 vaccine at this time of the situation of Covid-19 to prevent any serious infection?
Answer: Immunization with Prevnar® 13 vaccine may be considered. Discuss this vaccine with your health care provider.

Question: Is the Prevnar-13 Vaccine effective against Covid-19 pneumonia.
Answer: According to the World Health Organization:
"Vaccines against pneumonia, such as pneumococcal vaccine and Haemophilus influenza type B (Hib) vaccine, do not provide protection against the new coronavirus. The virus is so new and different that it needs its own vaccine. Researchers are trying to develop a vaccine against 2019-nCoV. Although these vaccines are not effective against 2019-nCoV, vaccination against respiratory illnesses is highly recommended to protect your health."

@curious2know, I'd be curious to hear what you find out from your physician.

Sorry, didn’t realize practitioners don’t participate/respond to this forum. . . .

As I understand it, pneumonia is a major contributing factor to the seriousness of the Covid-19 infection. In severe cases, this then can potentially lead to a “cytokine storm”, where the body’s own immunological response goes into hyper-drive. My understanding is the pneumonia vaccine will prompt an immunological response of its own, and should I subsequently contract the Covid-19 infection, would the vaccine possibly complicate my immune system’s response? Thx!

@curious2know- It's true that pneumonia is a major part of COVID-19. But it is a novel (new) pneumonia and needs its own vaccine. Although COVID-19 has been around for a few years it wasn't until this year that it has come out of its cave (so to speak) and that it has been a threat to our lives.

@curious2know @merpreb - Merry, you are correct. The COVID-19 pneumonia is part of the viral infection. A vaccine like Prevnar could prevent a secondary bacterial pneumonia from pneumococcus.

@ merpreb I just read a article , research paper that talked about the VIt. D3 with great promise as it helps with all viruses and its promising research into this and covid 19 I,ll see if I can find it again or maybe someone else has seen this research. The team was in Sweden