Certain groups are strongly urged to get a vaccine as they are at a higher risk of complications or even death if they come down with the flu, says the CDC. Who should get the vaccine?Įveryone over the age of 6 months should get a flu vaccine. Long ago, there were reports after flu shots of Guillain-Barré syndrome (a neurological disorder where the immune system attacks the nerves), but that has not been proven. Some people are allergic to ingredients in the vaccine, like eggs, but only 20 percent of today’s flu vaccines are grown in eggs, according to the CDC. “The proteins used in the vaccine may result in some local inflammatory response but nothing like the flu,” he says.Īny stories you may have heard about the vaccine causing the flu or autism are just flu myths. Some minor side effects include a sore arm, the sniffles, and a low fever, but you cannot get the flu from the vaccine, he emphasizes. “Any vaccination has some side effects but it’s so rare the benefit clearly outweighs the risk,” says Dr. People have been getting the flu vaccine for half a century and it rarely produces a serious reaction. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that the flu vaccine is, on average, 40 percent to 60 percent effective each year. Scientists change the vaccine each year in response, doing their best to match the vaccine to the strains.īut the vaccine is never 100 percent effective (actually, no vaccine is). The influenza virus mutates rapidly which means that the strains you see this year are different from those that were circulating last year. There is a higher demand for flu shots this year but, so far, there seem to be enough vaccines to go around, Dr. The more people who get the flu vaccine, the more likely communities will achieve herd immunity which is when enough people in an area get vaccinated to protect those who aren’t. “It’s a preventable disease and even if you get the flu it will minimize the disease.”
“There is no downside to taking the flu vaccine,” says Theodore Strange, MD, interim chair of medicine at Staten Island University Hospital in Staten Island, New York.
(Here’s the difference between Covid-19 symptoms vs. If you haven’t already, it’s not too late to get the flu vaccine. Unlike the Covid-19 vaccine, which will be available to most people next year, the flu vaccine is available right now at retailers nationwide, including Rite Aid pharmacies.
Getting a flu shot is one of the best things you can do for yourself, for others, and for a health care system already overburdened due to the pandemic.
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