Absence of association between 2019‐20 influenza vaccination and COVID‐19: Results of the European I‐MOVE‐COVID‐19 primary care project, March‐August 2020

The I‐MOVE‐COVID‐19 network has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no 101003673. Background : Claims of influenza vaccination increasing COVID-19 risk are circulating. Within the I-MOVE-COVID-19 primary care multicentre study, we measured the association between 2019-20 influenza vaccination and COVID-19. Methods : We conducted a multicentre test-negative case-control study at primary care level, in study sites in five European countries, from March to August 2020. Patients presenting with acute respiratory infection were swabbed, with demographic, 2019-20 influenza vaccination and clinical information documented. Using logistic regression, we measured the adjusted odds ratio (aOR), adjusting for study site and age, sex, calendar time, presence of chronic conditions. The main analysis included patients swabbed ≤7 days after onset from the three countries with