Should you get your COVID-19 booster when you are sick?

The months leading up to the holidays are usually filled with a runny nose and other signs that suggest someone is bad. Aside from the cold, there is also more stress than usual during this time of year, which increases our chances of getting sick.

With the advent of the Omicron variant, it is also important that people get their COVID-19 boosters as soon as possible. But what if you are sick? If you have any symptoms of COVID-19, no matter how mild, it is important to get tested before doing anything else.

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This list of COVID-19 symptoms includes the standard symptoms – cough, fever, and loss of taste and smell – but also the rarer ones such as headache and upset stomach. Even if you’ve been vaccinated and think COVID-19 disease is unlikely, it’s important to get tested because the Omicron variant appears to be more transmissible than others. If you tested positive then you should not receive the booster and instead wait until you test negative again. While scientists don’t think getting the booster is harmful when you have COVID-19, preventing the disease from spreading is important. By the time you go to your nearest pharmacy, you are likely to be exposed to a wide variety of people.

If you test negative and have manageable cold symptoms, you should be getting your booster. The COVID-19 booster is very unlikely to react negatively if other symptoms are appearing in your body. You might feel more tired the next day, but it should be. On the whole, it pays to be well protected before the holiday season, when people are likely to expand their social circles and expand themselves and others to the virus.

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Use common sense though. If you feel too sick for your refresher appointment, no matter how much trouble or you want to get it done before you meet up with friends and family, move off another day. Stay home and rest to keep your illness from spreading, be it a cold or the flu. Once you start feeling better, schedule your booster as soon as possible.