What Is In A Flu Shot Vaccine

Rapid Response To Pandemic Flu

The rapid development, production, and distribution of pandemic influenza vaccines could potentially save millions of lives during an influenza pandemic. Due to the short time frame between identification of a pandemic strain and need for vaccination, researchers are looking at novel technologies for vaccine production that could provide better “real-time” access and be produced more affordably, thereby increasing access for people living in low- and moderate-income countries, where an influenza pandemic may likely originate, such as live attenuated technology and recombinant technologies . As of July 2009, more than seventy known clinical trials have been completed or are ongoing for pandemic influenza vaccines. In September 2009, the FDA approved four vaccines against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus , and expected the initial vaccine lots to be available within the following month.

In January 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Audenz as a vaccine for the H5N1 flu virus. Audenz is a vaccine indicated for active immunization for the prevention of disease caused by the influenza A virus H5N1 subtype contained in the vaccine. Audenz is approved for use in persons six months of age and older at increased risk of exposure to the influenza A virus H5N1 subtype contained in the vaccine.

Who Should Get Vaccinated And When

Everyone aged 6 months or older should get vaccinated for the flu every year, even if theyre healthy.

The only exceptions are:

• If you are currently sick with a fever, you should wait to get a flu shot. This does not mean you cant get the flu shot at all, but your provider may recommend you wait until your current symptoms have passed.

• If you have a history of Guillain-Barre syndrome , you should talk to your provider before getting the flu shot.

In the U.S., flu season can start as early as September. The CDC recommends getting the flu shot at least 2 weeks before the flu starts circulating in your community preferably by the end of October. But you can get vaccinated later in the flu season too.

It takes about 2 weeks after you get the flu shot for you to be protected against the flu. Everyone needs a new flu vaccine every year, as immunity wears off after about 6 months.

Children whove never had a flu vaccine before need 2 doses 4 weeks apart to be fully protected.

Can I Get The Flu Shot If I’m Pregnant

Yes, the CDC recommends receiving a flu shot during pregnancy. In fact, it is recommended that all women who are pregnant or may become pregnant during the flu season receive a flu shot during any trimester. A flu shot protects both the mother and the baby from getting the flu since the mother can pass some of the antibodies onto the baby. Any of the age-appropriate flu shots may be used. It is important that pregnant women only receive a flu shot the nasal spray flu vaccine is not recommended during pregnancy.

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Can Everyone Have The Vaccine

The Australian Government recommends that everyone over the age of 6 months has the flu vaccine every year. Your Priceline Pharmacy pharmacist can vaccinate patients from 10 years and over. However, it is important to note that customers should not have the flu vaccine if there is a known allergy to eggs or chicken feathers if theyve had a known allergic reaction to a vaccine in the past. If you do have an egg allergy, please speak to your doctor or pharmacist as there is a new flu vaccine available that is safe for those with egg allergies. Some customers may be eligible for a free flu vaccination under the National Immunisation Program, please see your pharmacist or doctor for more information.

Wall Street Reacts To Covid

One of the main circulating influenza viruses has changed and the current flu vaccines don’t match it well any more — an indication they may not do much to prevent infection, researchers reported Thursday. But they are still likely to prevent severe illness.

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Effectiveness By Health And Age

The flu shot seems to function better in adults and older children. Older adults often have weaker immune systems, meaning that the shot may be less effective at preventing flu.

However, even if a person does catch flu, receiving the vaccine reduces the likelihood of experiencing severe symptoms.

The bodies of children under the age of 2 years and people with long-term health conditions might respond less to the shot, so they may receive weaker protection.

The CDC say that children under the age of 5 years, and especially those under the age of 2 years, have a higher risk of serious flu-related complications. Therefore, they recommend that all children over 6 months of age receive a flu shot.

What Is The Flu

Influenza is a respiratory illness, which means that it affects your airways. It is spread easily from person to person through coughing, sneezing, and even talking. When you get the influenza virus it sometimes takes one to four days before you start noticing symptoms. This means that you could spread the flu to those around you before you even know that you’re sick. Adults may be able to spread the flu for up to seven days after first becoming sick, and children may continue to spread the flu for even longer.

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Is There An Age Limit On Receiving The Flu Vaccine

The majority of Priceline Pharmacy stores are now able to vaccinate patients from 10 years and over.

Please see table below for further age restriction, or for further information please contact your nearest Priceline Pharmacy store.

^Pharmacies administering NIP vaccines may charge a professional service fee for this service

Is The Flu Dangerous

The symptoms of the flu could range from mild to severe. If you get the flu, you may experience a sudden fever, cough, aches, and fatigue. People who are 65 years or older, those with certain health conditions , pregnant women, and young children are considered high risk and are especially vulnerable to the flu and its complications. Every year, thousands of people die in the United States due to the flu, and even more are hospitalized. Minority populations have higher rates of flu-related hospitalizations. Non-Hispanic Black people have the highest rates of flu-related hospitalizations, followed by American Indian and Alaska Native populations and Hispanic and Latino populations. Minority populations also have lower rates of flu vaccination. Flu vaccination rates for the 2019-2020 season were estimated to be 38% for Hispanic adults and 41% for non-Hispanic Black adults, compared to 53% for non-Hispanic White adults.

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Who Can Get The Flu Vaccine For Free

The flu vaccine is free for New Zealanders who are:

• 65 years and over
• pregnant women
• under 65 who have certain medical conditions
• children aged 4 years or under who have been hospitalised for respiratory illness or have a history of significant respiratory illness.

Check with your doctor to find out if you qualify for a free flu vaccine. Read more about eligibility.

Ii Canadian Immunization Guide Chapter On Influenza: Clinical Information For Vaccine Providers

The Canadian Immunization Guide is written primarily for health care providers but it is also used by policy makers, program planners, and the general public. The CIG has been a trusted, reader-friendly summary of the vaccine statements provided by NACI since 1979.

The information in this section replaces the influenza chapter of the CIG and is adapted for inclusion in the NACI Statement on Seasonal Influenza Vaccine. With a new NACI Statement on Seasonal Influenza Vaccine required each year, readers will have quick access to the information that they require within one document, whether it is the relevant influenza vaccine information written primarily for frontline vaccine providers as is found in this section, or the more detailed technical information that is found in the rest of this statement, commencing in Section III.

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What Is A Flu Vaccine

Influenza vaccines are vaccines that protect against the four influenza viruses that research indicates most common during the upcoming season. Most flu vaccines are flu shots given with a needle, usually in the arm, but there also is also a nasal spray flu vaccine.

Do You Need The Flu Shot If You’ve Received The Covid

Video transcript

If youve already gotten the COVID-19 vaccine, it is also recommended and important that you get the flu shot this year. One covers you against the influenza virus, and the other covers you for the COVID-19 viruses. Theyre two distinct vaccines.

Every year, the flu vaccine is different.

This year, we suspect that the cases for the flu may increase.

Once you get the flu shot, it takes two weeks to become effective in your system. So the earlier you get it, the less exposure you have to others who are sick within your community.

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Sometimes I Get The Flu Despite Having Had The Flu Shot Why Should I Bother

Flu vaccination prevents illness in up to 6 in 10 healthy adults under the age of 65. Because the vaccine is not effective in absolutely every case, some people may still catch the virus after having the flu shot. But the risk of illness is still reduced.

Although most people who get the flu recover without lasting effects, the flu can be very serious in some people and may require hospitalisation. In some cases, it can even be fatal. Its not possible to predict who will be severely affected.

Vaccination against the flu both reduces your chances of getting it and the severity of the symptoms if you do. So its still important to have the shot.

Can My Child Get The Flu Vaccine At The Same Time As Another Childhood Vaccine Including The Covid

Yes. It is safe to get the seasonal flu vaccine at the same time as any childhood vaccine, including the COVID-19 vaccine. Many children are behind with their childhood vaccines or boosters because of the COVID-19 pandemic and getting the vaccines at the same time can help them catch up more quickly.

For children 5 to 11 years old, it may be best to wait at least 14 days between the COVID-19 and other vaccines. The reason for this is that if any side effects happen, doctors will know which vaccine they are related to. But only space out vaccines if you are sure that no other vaccines your child needs will be given late.

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Adverse Events After Cell

Cell-based influenza vaccines have a similar safety profile to standard influenza vaccines. In one study among children and adolescents aged 417 years, injection site reactions were reported in 53% of people receiving cell-based vaccine compared with 43% receiving standard influenza vaccine. Systemic reactions were reported by 37% and 30%, respectively.83 Both injection site and systemic reactions were typically mild to moderate < 1% were reported as severe.

In another study in adults aged 1860 years, injection site reactions were reported in 29% of people receiving cell-based vaccine compared with 25% receiving standard influenza vaccine. Systemic reactions were reported by 25% and 23%, respectively.84 Injection site reactions were typically mild to moderate < 1% were reported as severe. No severe systemic reactions were reported.

Will The Flu Vaccine Give Me The Flu

The vaccine cannot cause the flu because it does not contain any live viruses. The vaccine stimulates an immune response which can include symptoms such as fever, headache and tiredness. This creates immunity but doesn’t cause the illness. Most people tolerate the vaccine well.

Any after-effects from the vaccine are usually mild and last a day or two, and may include:

• soreness, aching and/or redness at the injection site
• tiredness, feeling a little unwell or having a mild fever.

These are signs your immune system is working with the vaccine. Contact your doctor know if you have any more severe reaction to the flu vaccination or if you are at all concerned.

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What Is The History Of Flu Vaccine Development

In 1933, researchers discovered that viruses cause influenza . Prior to 1933, people thought a bacterium named Haemophilus influenzae caused the flu. In 1938, Jonas Salk and Thomas Francis developed the first vaccine against flu viruses. This first flu vaccine protected the U.S. military forces against the flu during World War II. Dr. Salk used his experience with influenza vaccine to develop an effective polio vaccine in 1952. Vaccines produced from the 1940s to the 1960s were not as purified as more modern vaccines, and the impurities in vaccines were thought to contribute to side effects such as fever, aches, and fatigue. Since these symptoms were similar to those that accompanied the flu , people mistakenly thought they got the flu from the vaccination. However, they did not get the flu from the vaccines since the vaccines used killed virus.

Because of the potential for widespread infection, life-threatening complications, and deaths that the H1N1 pandemic virus strain seemed to possess, health researchers accelerated the H1N1 tests so that the vaccine could be provided before the usual six-month timeline. However, all of the steps were done in the same way as for seasonal vaccines but over a shorter period with fewer people involved in the initial trials. Tested and approved H1N1 vaccine started to become available in late September 2009 and in October 2009 in the Americas and Asia.

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How Effective Is The Flu Shot

In general, the flu vaccine will protect about two-thirds of persons who get it, says Jon McCullers, MD, the pediatrician-in-chief at Le Bonheur Childrens Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. This is modified by a lot of personal factors, such as age, previous flu vaccines, the circulating virus, and your immune system.

Getting the flu shot does not guarantee that you wont come down with the flu for a number of reasons. Flu viruses are constantly changing , making it possible for them to evade the protections people have built up through flu vaccines.

But while flu vaccines are not 100 percent effective, people who are immunized are less likely to develop flu complications than people who arent.

Even in years when the flu vaccine is a bad match, there is partial protection because ones immune system can make antibodies that still recognize and bind to the influenza virus when new strains emerge unexpectedly, says Kevin Harrod, PhD, a professor and infectious disease researcher at the University of Alabamas Heersink School of Medicine in Birmingham.

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Evergreen Flu Vaccine Ingredients: The Preservatives And Additives

Beyond the three to four viral components, a number of additives and preservatives are required to make vaccines effective and to keep them from going bad. These ingredients, sometimes covered as trade secrets by drug companies in less public drugs, have led to many a conspiracy theory that anti-vaxxers would have you latch onto. Its really much more boring than that.

Here are some of the ingredients you will find in the 2021-2022 flu vaccine and why theyre there.

The Ingredient: Aluminum Salts

Use: Boosts bodys response to the vaccine

The Ingredient: Sugar or gelatin

In: Most vaccines

In: Few flu vaccines only multi-dose vials

Use: Preservative

The CDC says: Thimerosal has a different form of mercury than the kind that causes mercury poisoning . Its safe to use ethylmercury in vaccines because its processed differently in the body and its less likely to build up in the body and because its used in tiny amounts. Even so, most vaccines do not have any thimerosal in them.

The Ingredient: Egg proteins

In: Some vaccines

Use: Growing the vaccine

The CDC says: Because influenza and yellow fever vaccines are both made in eggs, egg proteins are present in the final products. However, there are two new flu vaccines now available for people with egg allergies.

Flu Vaccine For Frontline Health And Social Care Workers

If you’re a frontline health and social care worker, your employer should offer you a flu vaccine. They may give the vaccine at your workplace.

You can also have an NHS flu vaccine at a GP surgery or a pharmacy if:

• you’re a health or social care worker employed by a registered residential care or nursing home, registered homecare organisation or a hospice
• you work in NHS primary care and have direct contact with patients this includes contractors, non-clinical staff and locums
• you provide health or social care through direct payments or personal health budgets, or both

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Talking To Your Doctor

Its always a good idea to talk with your doctor, especially if you havent gotten the flu vaccine before or if your health has changed. If you have an allergy or other condition that might make the vaccine risky for you, check with your doctor before getting vaccinated.

Here are a few questions to ask your doctor:

• Is there any reason why I shouldnt get the flu vaccine?
• What side effects might it cause?
• What should I do if I have side effects?
• Should I get the flu shot or nasal mist?

The flu vaccine is considered safe. You cant catch the flu from the vaccine, because the virus in the vaccine has been killed or weakened.

The live vaccine isnt recommended for people with weaker immune systems.