Where Should You Get A Flu Shot

When Should I Get A Flu Shot

It is best to get a flu vaccine before flu viruses begin spreading in your community, so you have begun developing influenza antibodies to protect you against contracting the flu.

The CDC recommends that you get a flu shot by the end of October, but its not too late to benefit from some level of protection even as late as January.

NOTE: COVID-19 vaccines and flu vaccines may be administered at the same visit. You may receive both vaccines safely, with no wait time in between. However, at Michigan Medicine, the two vaccines must each be scheduled.

Who Should And Who Should Not Get A Flu Vaccine

Everyone 6 months of age and older should get an influenza vaccine every season, with rare exceptions. For the 2021-2022 flu season, three main types of influenza vaccines will be available. Two kindsthe inactivated influenza vaccines and the recombinant influenza vaccine are injectable . The third type, the live attenuated influenza vaccine , is given by nasal spray. Different influenza vaccines are approved for different age groups. Some people should not get some types of influenza vaccines, and some people should not receive influenza vaccines at all . Everyone who is vaccinated should receive a vaccine that is appropriate for their age and health status. There is no preference for any one vaccine over another.

• Who Should be Prioritized for Flu Vaccination During a Vaccine Shortage

This page includes information on who should and who should not get an influenza vaccine, and who should talk to a health care professional before vaccination. Talk to your health care provider if you have any questions regarding which influenza vaccines are best for you and your family.

All persons aged 6 months of age and older are recommended for annual flu vaccination, with rare exception.

Vaccination is particularly important for people who are at higher risk of developing serious flu complications.

People who can get the flu shot:

Flu shots are appropriate for most people.

People who SHOULD NOT get a flu shot include:

People who SHOULD NOT get a nasal spray vaccine:

Don’t Forget A Flu Vaccine This Season

Flu activity was kept low last season because of vaccination, social distancing, masking, school closures and limited travel. Now that pandemic restrictions are lifting, flu has a much higher chance of spreading. We can all do our part to prevent illness and hospitalizations caused by flu by getting vaccinated.

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The Flu Shot Is Effective

The effectiveness of the vaccine varies from season to season. It depends on:

• how well the vaccine matches with the circulating flu viruses
• the health and age of the person getting the flu shot

The viruses circulating in the population can sometimes change during the time it takes to produce a vaccine. When this happens during the flu season, the flu shot may not work as well as expected.

It’s also important to remember that the flu shot protects against several different flu viruses each season. The seasonal flu shot can still provide protection against the remaining 2 or 3 viruses, even when theres:

• a less-than-ideal match
• lower effectiveness against one virus

If you do get the flu, the flu shot may reduce the severity of flu-related complications.

Getting your flu shot is still the most effective way to protect yourself against the flu and flu-related complications.

What Are The Benefits Of Flu Vaccination

Note: Prevention and Control of Seasonal Influenza with Vaccines: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices United States, 2021-2022 Influenza Season has been . More information on the 2021-2022 season is also available.

There are many reasons to get an influenza vaccine each year. Flu vaccination is the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones against flu and its potentially serious complications.

Below is a summary of the benefits of flu vaccination and selected scientific studies that support these benefits.

• Flu vaccination can keep you from getting sick with flu.

• Flu vaccination prevents millions of illnesses and flu-related doctors visits each year. For example, during 2019-2020 flu vaccination prevented an estimated 7.5 million influenza illnesses, 3.7 million influenza-associated medical visits, 105,000 influenza-associated hospitalizations, and 6,300 influenza-associated deaths.
• During seasons when flu vaccine viruses are similar to circulating flu viruses, flu vaccine has been shown to reduce the risk of having to go to the doctor with flu by 40 percent to 60 percent.

• Flu vaccination has been shown in several studies to reduce severity of illness in people who get vaccinated but still get sick.
• A 2021 studyexternal icon showed that among adults, flu vaccination was associated with a 26% lower risk of ICU admission and a 31% lower risk of death from flu compared to those who were unvaccinated.

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Who Shouldn’t Get A Flu Shot

Some people shouldn’t get a flu shot, regardless of whether they’re sick at the time. Be sure to tell your healthcare provider if any of these apply to you or your child:

• Being under 6 months of age
• Previous severe allergic reaction to a flu vaccine
• If you’ve ever had Guillain-Barré syndrome

In these situations, talk to your healthcare provider about whether the flu vaccine is safe for you.

Everyone 6 Months And Older Should Get The Flu Shot

The flu shot is your best defence against the flu. The flu shot is recommended for everyone 6 months of age and older.

It can save lives by:

• protecting you, if you’re exposed to the virus
• preventing you from getting very sick
• protecting people close to you:
• because you’re less likely to spread the virus
• who are at higher risk of serious flu complications if they get the flu

The flu shot wont protect you against COVID-19.

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The Flu Vaccine Is Safe

To ensure that the flu vaccine is safe, effective, and of high quality, the FDA prepares and provides reagents to manufacturers that they need to make their vaccine and to verify its identity and potency. The FDA also inspects manufacturing facilities regularly and evaluates each manufacturers vaccine annually before it can be approved.

The FDAs oversight doesnt end there. After manufacturers have distributed their vaccines for use by the public, the FDA and CDC work together to routinely evaluate reports of adverse events following vaccination submitted by vaccine manufacturers, health care providers and vaccine recipients to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System .

Additional efforts are in place to monitor vaccine safety. The FDA partners with private organizations that collect health care data and other federal agencies to further evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the influenza vaccines and other vaccines that the FDA has approved or authorized for emergency use.

The Biologics Effectiveness and Safety Initiative is one of the programs the FDA utilizes to assess vaccine safety and effectiveness in real-world conditions, reflecting patient care and the real-world use of the influenza vaccine and other vaccines in the U.S. In addition, the CDC maintains the Vaccine Safety Datalink program, which evaluates the vaccines safety similar to the BEST Initiative. VSD receives its data from nine integrated health care organizations in the U.S.

What Is A Flu Shot

Flu is a highly contagious health issue that affects millions of people every year. It hits during the late summers and early monsoon months causing cold, cough, fever, body ache, etc. issues. While flu is touted to be easily treated through medications, it is better to get flu shots to prevent serious repercussions. Besides, we are already dealing with the deadly covid pandemic that compromises immunity and allows Influenza virus to easily attack the body. This affects the entire respiratory system of the body including nose, throat and lungs.

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Understanding The Flu Vaccine

Get the facts about the flu vaccine and how it can help keep your family healthy each year

The flu season seemed milder during the COVID-19 pandemic, as fewer people got infected or were hospitalized with the flu. Experts are studying why that might be. It could be tied to public health measures that protect against coronavirus, as they also protect against the flu. These include wearing masks in public, social distancing, and lack of travel. Increased flu vaccination rates also might have helped.

COVID-19 is getting lots of attention now, but many people get very sick or even die from the flu every year. So it’s still important to get a flu vaccine each year.

Key Reasons To Get The Flu Shot According To A Doctor

Flu shots are not common in India whereas it should be as yearly flu shots offer protection against flu and many other viral attacks.

Flu shots are vaccines that offer protection against Influenza viruses. These are common in western countries where people get flu shots every year but in India, people are still unaware. Influenza flu accounts for over 10 million cases every year which speaks of the dire need for awareness regarding its prevention. Flu shots are extremely beneficial and to tell you its importance, onlymyhealth got in touch with Dr. Umang Agrawal, Infectious Diseases Consultant at PD Hinduja Hospital & MRC.

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How Long Does The Flu Vaccine Take To Work

The flu vaccine takes about 2 weeks for your body to develop antibiotics to protect against the virus. For this reason, experts at the CDC recommend getting the flu vaccine at the end of October or before the flu season starts to circulate in your community.

If you get the vaccine too early in the season, it may reduce your protection against the flu virus in the later part of the flu season. Regardless of where you choose to get the flu vaccine, getting it annually allows you to protect yourself and those around you. This year, that will likely prove to be a more important and compassionate act than it ever has before.

For more information about how your health plan can help you stay on top of recommended immunizations, contact us today.

When To Postpone The Flu Shot

Having cold symptoms isn’t necessarily a reason to avoid getting your flu shot. But sometimes it’s better to put it off for a few days.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends waiting until you’re better if:

• You have a fever over 101 degrees Fahrenheit
• You’re very ill

Fever isn’t a frequent cold symptom in adults. It’s more common in children, though.

If you’re planning to get your child vaccinated and they seem sick, monitor their temperature. If they have a fever, the healthcare provider may decide it’s better to wait than to vaccinate right away.

The healthcare provider giving you the vaccine should ask you if you have a fever or are sick before giving it. If they don’t, be sure to speak up.

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Can I Have Flu And Covid

• Yes. It is possible to have flu, as well as other respiratory illnesses, and COVID-19 at the same time. Health experts are still studying how common this can be.

• Some of the symptoms of flu and COVID-19 are similar, making it hard to tell the difference between them based on symptoms alone. Diagnostic testing can help determine if you are sick with flu or COVID-19.

How Flu Vaccine Virus Strains Are Selected

Every year, in late February or early March, before that years flu season ends, the FDA, the World Health Organization , the CDC, and other public health experts collaborate on collecting and reviewing data from around the world to identify the flu viruses likely to cause the most illnesses during the next flu season.

Following that process, the FDA convenes its vaccines advisory committee, consisting of outside experts, to discuss the WHO recommendations and to consider which flu viruses are expected to circulate in the U.S. The committee also reviews data about which flu viruses have caused illnesses in the past year, how the viruses are changing, and disease trends for the U.S. The FDA takes that information into account before it selects the virus strains for FDA-licensed manufacturers to include in their vaccines for use in the U.S.

The closer the match between the virus strains chosen for the vaccine and the circulating strains causing disease during flu season, the better the protection that the flu vaccine provides. Although the vaccine and viruses may not be an exact match in some years, that does not mean the vaccine is not benefiting people. Available data show that the vaccine can reduce the severity of illness in people who get vaccinated but still get sick.

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I Still Got The Flu After The Flu Vaccine Why Should I Get The Flu Vaccine This Year

Although the flu vaccine wont prevent every case of the flu, getting an annual vaccination is the best way to reduce your risk of serious illness. Getting the flu vaccine may make illness milder. A 2017 study in Clinical Infectious Diseases showed that influenza vaccination reduced deaths, intensive care unit admissions, ICU length of stay, and overall duration of hospitalization among hospitalized influenza patients.

A flu shot cannot cause flu illness. If you get flu-like symptoms after receiving the flu vaccine, there may be a few reasons why you have a low grade fever, and headache, including that they may be mild side-effects of the vaccine. If you get diagnosed with the flu shortly after receiving the flu vaccine, you may have been exposed to the flu virus beforehand, as it takes approximately two weeks for the vaccine to work.

Flu Vaccines: Your Best Shot At Prevention

Flu vaccine appointments are available at multiple clinics, select UW Health pharmacies and our drive-thru clinic. Scheduled appointments are available during regular business hours, and on weekends and early evening at select locations.When you schedule, you will be shown only the locations appropriate for each persons age. If scheduling for multiple people, each person may be presented with different options.

• UW Health Primary Care Clinics, Madison

• UW Health Pharmacies for ages 6 years and older. If you need additional vaccinations at the time of your influenza vaccine, please call one of our pharmacy locations to schedule this appointment. Learn more.

For those without health insurance, Public Health Madison and Dane County can help. Learn how

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Seasonal Flu And Covid

Flu and COVID-19 are both contagious respiratory illnesses, but they are caused by different viruses. COVID-19 is caused by infection with a coronavirus and seasonal flu is caused by infection with one of many influenza viruses that spread annually among people.

Because some symptoms of flu and COVID-19 are similar, people may need to be tested to tell what virus is causing their illness. People can be infected with both a flu virus and the virus that causes COVID-19 at the same time. In general, COVID-19 seems to spread more easily than flu and causes more serious illnesses in some people. Compared with people who have flu infections, people who have COVID-19 can take longer to show symptoms and be contagious for longer. This FAQ page compares COVID-19 and flu, given the best available information to date.

Yes. It is possible to have flu and other respiratory illnesses like COVID-19 at the same time. Health experts are still studying how common this is. Some of the symptoms of flu and COVID-19 are similar, making it hard to tell the difference between them based on symptoms alone. Diagnostic testing can help determine if you are sick with flu or COVID-19.

Your health care professional may order a test to help confirm whether you have flu or COVID-19 or some other illness. Get more information on COVID-19 and flu testing and symptoms of COVID-19 and flu.

Does A Flu Vaccine Increase Your Risk Of Getting Covid

• There is no evidence that getting a flu vaccine increases your risk of getting sick from a coronavirus, like the one that causes COVID-19.

• You may have heard about a study published in January 2020 that reported an association between flu vaccination and risk of four commonly circulating seasonal coronaviruses, but not the one that causes COVID-19. This report was later found to be incorrect.

• The results from that initial study led researchers in Canada to look at their data to see if they could find similar results in their population. The results from Canadas study showed that flu vaccination did not increase risk for these seasonal coronaviruses. The Canadian findings highlighted the protective benefits of flu vaccination.

• The Canadian researchers also identified a flaw in the methods of the first study, noting that it violated the part of study design that compares vaccination rates among patients with and without flu . This flaw led to the incorrect association between flu vaccination and seasonal coronavirus risk. When these researchers reexamined data from the first study using correct methods, they found that flu vaccination did not increase risk for infection with other respiratory viruses, including seasonal coronaviruses.

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Possible Side Effects Of Influenza Vaccination

You may experience minor side effects following vaccination. Most reactions are mild and last no more than a couple of days and you will recover without any problems.

Common side effects of influenza vaccines include:

• pain, redness, swelling or hardness where the needle went in
• fever, tiredness, body aches.

Talk to your immunisation provider about possible side effects of the influenza vaccines, or if you or your child have side effects that worry you.

The Consumer Medicine Information available on the Therapeutic Goods Administration website lists the ingredients and side effects of each vaccine.

Learn more about the possible side effects of vaccination