Cover-Tek

Wellness and Safety at Work.

  • Home
  • What We Do
    • Drug & Alcohol Testing
    • Flu Shots
    • Health & Wellness
    • Blood Work
    • Safety & CPR Training
    • B12 Shots
    • DNA/Paternity Testing
    • Immunizations
  • About
  • Blog
  • Locations
  • Get Started

3 Reasons Your Staff Needs 4-Strain Flu Shots This Season

Are you the kind of person who only buys the best? Brand new cars, top-of-the-line appliances, best-in-class office equipment and software … often, investing in the latest technologies means a better, longer-lasting return on that investment.

The same is true for your health, especially in preparation for flu season.

For decades, the only flu vaccines available were 3-strain, or “trivalent”, meaning they protected against three types of flu viruses. In recent years a “quadrivalent” vaccine has become available, which protects against four flu virus strains.

Here are three reasons why it’s time to make the switch from 3-strain to 4-strain flu shots.

1 – It’s safe.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) works hard to inform Americans that flu vaccinations are for almost everybody 6 months or older, and that you can’t get the flu from a vaccination.

A study published in July 2016 concluded that new quadrivalent vaccines are no more likely to cause minor side effects than the trivalent vaccines people have been taking for years. All clear.

Of course, you should talk to your doctor before taking any vaccine to make sure you don’t have an allergy or condition that could give you trouble. Different types of vaccines have different ingredients. Some include eggs, for example, which can cause a severe reaction in people with an egg allergy. (It’s pretty rare for that to happen, though.)

2 – It’s working.

The same study concluded that 4-strain vaccines “showed superior efficacy” (why can’t they just say “worked way better”?) for the B virus than last year’s 3-strain trivalent vaccine.

Another study from 2015 made some fun models and concluded that if we’d had quadrivalent vaccines in the years between 2000 and 2013, we would have had 15.8% fewer cases of B-strain flu. There’s a high probability they threw a statistics party when they discovered that.

NOTE: If anyone on your staff already got a trivalent vaccination this season, consider that good enough. Except for certain children, the CDC does not recommend more than one dose of flu vaccine in a season, even if you didn’t get the 4-strain. The trivalent vaccine ain’t bad. It too is formulated each year to combat the current season’s most common viruses.

3 – It’s the future.

Chances are, with a better product that protects against an additional strain, vaccine manufacturers will eventually stop making the trivalent and embrace the new standard.

However, as long as both vaccines are offered, there will be two price points and insurance companies may differ on how much they’re willing to pay for your shot. Ask your health insurance provider specifically about coverage for 4-strain flu vaccinations to find out.

If you’re making the call on behalf of your workplace and the cost of the quadrivalent vaccine is prohibitive, you will still be preventing hundreds of sick days by purchasing trivalent vaccines for your staff.

Still fuzzy on the difference between the trivalent flu vaccine and quadrivalent flu vaccine? We covered that in this blog post.

In Conclusion

Unless there’s a medical condition to be concerned about, or your people already got their shot, it’s time to step up to the next level in flu prevention: fighting four bad guys at once instead of just three is obviously much better.

Flu prevention is an important part of comprehensive corporate wellness programming. Click the link below to learn more about how we can help with onsite flu shot clinics.

Learn about Onsite Flu Shot Clinics

 

Filed Under: Corporate Wellness Tagged With: Flu Shots, onsite flu shot clinics, quadrivalent flu vaccine

From the Blog

  • What Sunscreen SPF Levels Mean & Which One You Need
  • 5 Natural Pain Management Techniques That Work
  • 7 Ways to Eat Healthy on a Budget
  • 4 Reasons to Require a Hair Follicle Drug Screen
  • 3 People Who Should NOT Get a Flu Vaccine

Categories

  • Blood Testing (6)
  • Corporate Wellness (35)
  • Drug Testing (18)
  • Exercise and Nutrition (29)
  • Immunizations (7)
  • Safety (5)
  • Wellness and Safety (70)
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Connect with us:  Cover-Tek on Facebook Cover-Tek on Twitter Cover-Tek on LinkedIn

Services

Drug & Alcohol Testing

Health & Wellness

Immunizations

Blood Work

Safety & CPR Training

 

Company

About Cover-Tek

Blog

Contact

Employment

Colleyville, TX Office

WE HAVE MOVED

1105 Cheek Sparger Road

Colleyville, TX 76034

Phone 817-329-6900

fax: 817-329-0995

Email texas@cover-tek.com

Muncie, IN Office

926 W Main St

Muncie, IN 47305

Phone 765-896-8594

Email lindseyf@cover-tek.com

Cover-Tek, Inc. © 2023 Cover-Tek, Inc. All rights reserved.