Flu Season and COVID-19
Posted on October 29, 2021
Health New England supports providers and members in taking an active role to prevent disease. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, vaccination for COVID-19 and influenza are especially important. As highlighted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), influenza vaccine may be administered at the same time as COVID-19 vaccine.
Some key changes for the 2021-2022 influenza season include: all influenza vaccines will be quadrivalent; therefore, Fluad trivalent (CPT code 90653) will not be covered by Health New England. In addition, Flucelvax Quadrivalent (CPT codes 90674 and 90756) is now approved for ages 2 years and older (formerly approved for ages 4 years and older).
The CDC continues to provide updated COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, including recent information around the booster shot. The CDC now recommends COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for certain high-risk Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine recipients who completed their initial series at least 6 months ago.
Health New England coverage for the influenza and COVID-19 vaccines are aligned with recommendations made by the CDC.
Below are several related web links for additional influenza and COVID-19 vaccination information.
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/season/faq-flu-season-2021-2022.htm
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs/vacc-specific/flu.html
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/keythingstoknow.html
For additional questions, our Pharmacy Department is always willing to help. You may reach the Pharmacy Department by calling your Provider Relations Representative at (800) 842-4464, extension 5000, or by sending an email to providerrelations@hne.com.
