Tulsa doctor answers COVID-19 vaccine questions as cases rise this fall

As the CDC reports an increase in COVID-19 cases this fall, some families may be unsure about vaccination timing and availability. Dr. Matthew Else, a family medicine physician and medical director for Craft Concierge in Tulsa, answered questions about the current COVID-19 landscape.

Is this the season for COVID?

Matthew Else: Yeah, unfortunately, the whole year is the season. It's just when is it going to show up? So we did see at the end of last month, there were some cases that were starting to pick up. We don't know if that's going to continue to go up or if it's going to something that's going to stabilize and then pick up later in the fall.

With flu season approaching, when should people get the COVID vaccine?

Matthew Else: Yeah, if we're seeing active cases, I would go ahead and get the vaccine for both COVID and flu. I normally people, end of October to prepare for the holidays. But there's no point in waiting if all of a sudden you're going to get sick now and then have to postpone that vaccine later.

What about federal vaccine recommendations? For someone 60+, what should they do?

Matthew Else: Yeah, we have three of the major vaccines. You know, Moderna and Pfizer, those are the most well known. Novavax is the third one. It is not an mRNA vaccine. So if someone has any hesitancy there, they could get those. The Novavax is 12 and up. The Moderna is 6 months and up and the Pfizer is 5 years and up. Now those each have their own little caveats of having to have a risk factor depending on certain age, but anyone 65 and older should be able to get the vaccine. So it's so confusing this year. So what I recommend is if you have any questions, please reach out to your primary care physician and they will try to be able to look at your chart. Make sure they can get you a good answer and help you understand what may be best for you.

Are vaccines still covered by insurance?

Matthew Else: So because of some of the confusion coming from the federal agencies, we aren't sure what the insurance is going to do. Normally they will approve it if the ACIP committee says to, but they haven't voted on it. So my hope is that the insurance companies will do the right thing and they'll cover what the physician says that we should be getting. So even if your physician has to send a prescription to your pharmacy saying this patient needs this medicine. they should be covering that. And so that's our hopes.

How do people navigate pharmacies for vaccines?

Matthew Else: So you should be able to do all that the exact same. I actually like going to the pharmacy because a lot of times they can run your insurance benefits in the moment to give you a sense of confidence knowing whether or not that's going to be covered. And if you're not sure, you can always reach out to the Tulsa Health Department to see if they may have some resources for you based on your income or if you're uninsured as well.

Should you ask specifically for the 2025-26 COVID vaccine?

Matthew Else: Exactly. So they are labeled by the year that we're going into. So you don't want to get last year's vaccine and then all of a sudden it not be as effective. And that goes for the flu shot as well.

What are the signs and symptoms of COVID, and what should people do if they test positive?

Matthew Else: So we are so used to this by now. I hope people will recognize this. The most common sign recently is going to be that razor blade throat. for COVID. But there you want to look back to the very beginning. There are tons of people that don't have any symptoms at all. So just because you don't have that major symptom doesn't mean it's not COVID. We're getting out of the allergy season. So I really tell people, please don't just say, oh, it's just allergies. You can get a combo swab at your pharmacy for COVID and flu. You can come to the doctor's office and get swabbed as well. But the right thing to do is to know what you're dealing with so that you can protect others around you.

Dr. Else said people should contact their primary care physicians for guidance and to make sure they are taking the right steps for themselves and their families.