Flu vaccines are available: when should you get vaccinated?
One of the best ways to prepare for health concerns that come with colder weather, such as the increased spread of respiratory viruses like COVID, RSV, and the flu, is to reduce your risk of serious illness by getting vaccinated.
Each year, scientists and doctors determine which flu strains are most likely to circulate and make people sick during flu season, usually peak between December and February, but begins in the fall. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already announced that composition of the flu vaccines from 2024 to 2025and pharmacies, including Walmart And CVS advertising this season’s shots. When should you make your appointment?
Health officials have traditionally urged people to get the flu vaccine by the end of October; the end of June announcementAccording to the CDC, September and October are the best months for most people to get vaccinated.
For more preparedness for virus season, read on to learn how to order free COVID tests from the government and why Novavax is playing an important role in COVID prevention. Also, learn about the recently approved at-home flu vaccine that will be available next year.
Who should get vaccinated against the flu?
Almost everyone six months or older According to the CDC, people should get vaccinated against the flu.
The CDC has rare exceptions for people who should not get vaccinated. These include people who have had a severe allergic reaction to a flu vaccine in the past, people who have a severe allergy to an ingredient in the flu vaccine (such as gelatin), and people with a history of Guillain-Barré syndrome, a type of paralytic disorder.
What types of flu vaccines are there?
The flu vaccines that will be available this season will be egg- and cell-based or recombinant, according to the CDC. We can expects the agency to publish more specific information about the flu vaccine for 2024-2025 sometime this month.
Older adults aged 60 years and older have historically been recommended a higher dose vaccine because there is a serious illness more common in older adults.
Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease expert and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, wrote in an email that older adults should opt for a “high-dose” or “adjuvanted” vaccine.
In addition to age-based recommendations, pregnant women traditionally are not recommended the nasal spray flu vaccine, along with other adults aged 50 and over.
Another major change this year so far is that vaccines trivalentwhich means they are targeting three different strains of flu. This is a shift away from quadrivalent vaccines (four strains) because a specific type of flu (influenza B/Yamagata viruses) has been extinct since March 2020.
Recently the FDA approved the first ever home flu vaccine for adults under 50 and children 2 years and older. It is a nasal vaccine that requires a prescription from an online pharmacy, but unfortunately it is not expected to be available until next year’s flu season.
When should you get vaccinated against the flu?
Flu vaccines are generally recommended in September or October. Health officials say most people shouldn’t get vaccinated earlier, even though flu vaccines are already available. This is based on when flu activity typically peaks and the fact that you want the immunity from your flu vaccine to last.
“Getting it now may result in reduced protection at the end of the season,” Adalja said, adding that he recommends people wait until October to get the flu vaccine. “Influenza is not really circulating significantly in the United States right now.”
According to the CDC, exceptions for earlier (July or August) eligibility apply for children who already have scheduled health care visits during this time and are unlikely to have an appointment in September or October, children who two doses needed of the flu vaccine and people in the third trimester of their pregnancy.
It is especially important that older people aged 65 and over and people in the first two trimesters of their pregnancy – groups at higher risk of complications from influenza – don’t get vaccinated too early (August), the CDC said, unless they cannot get the shot at a more convenient time.
Ask your doctor your questions now so that you can already make your appointment
If you are in your 60s or older, or if you think you may receive a special recommendation for flu vaccination based on a health condition, call your doctor or pharmacist to make sure they have your preferred (high-dose) vaccine in stock when you make your appointment. You can also answer any questions you have ahead of time so you can come to your appointment prepared.
If you prefer to get multiple shots in one appointment, you may also consider waiting for the updated COVID-19 vaccine, which expected to be available soonAs with the flu, the newer COVID vaccines have been modified to better match the circulating strains that are currently making people sick.
“Our most important recommendation to protect yourself and your loved ones from respiratory illness is to get vaccinated,” CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen said in a June report proposition“Make a plan now for you and your family to get both the flu and COVID vaccines this fall, before the respiratory virus season starts.”
