CHAS Health recommends that everyone ages 6 months and older get an annual flu shot to lower the risk of getting the flu and limit flu exposure to others.
Seasonal flu activity can begin as early as October and continue as late as May. People of all ages can catch the flu, and now more than ever, no one wants to expose others to illness-causing germs.
Why Get a Flu Shot?
Flu vaccination has been widely available in the United States since 1945 and is on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicine. Each year, a new flu vaccine is developed to protect against the flu strains anticipated for the upcoming season. Flu vaccine effectiveness can vary according to season, age, and health status, but getting vaccinated each year still reduces the risk of severe flu-related illness. Severe complications from the flu are far more likely than severe flu vaccine side effects. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that everyone 6 months and older get vaccinated each flu season. Children 6 months through 8 years of age will need 2 doses during the initial flu season in which they are vaccinated, then 1 flu shot annually. Everyone else 9 years and older needs only 1 dose each flu season. It takes about 2 weeks for antibody protection to develop after vaccination.
2022 Flu Vaccine Online Scheduling
CHAS Health offers convenient online scheduling for in-clinic flu vaccinations! Click below to make an appointment!
Myths Debunked
- You can’t get the flu from the flu shot. The injectable vaccine is made either from killed viruses that can’t cause the flu or without flu viruses altogether. It takes about two weeks for the flu shot to be effective.
- Even healthy people can get and spread the flu. The flu can cause serious health problems, especially for those who already have a chronic illness or are too young to be vaccinated. If you catch and spread the flu to someone, it can cause a potentially life-threatening health problem, especially in those at high risk for complications.
- Strains of flu viruses typically change each year, so there is a new flu shot each year. It is important to ensure you have immunity to the strains most likely to cause an outbreak. Even if you got a flu shot last year, you should still get one this year.
- Flu shots dramatically decrease the amount of flu in our community, hospitalizations, and deaths due to influenza and its complications. Vaccine effectiveness can vary depending on how well the flu strain and vaccine match each year. Even when there’s not a good strain match, the vaccination can still help offer some protection, such as a milder case of the flu.
Illnesses are a normal part of life for both adults and children, but they are no fun to experience. We can’t keep ourselves or our children home for every sniffle and sneeze, yet we want to minimize the spread of germs to others. That’s why getting an annual flu shot is so very important.
