United States: Flu season marks the onset of December and reaches its peak activity in February; therefore, the “optimal time” to get vaccinated is heading into the season, as Dr. Céline Gounder, who is the CBS News medical contributor and editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News said.
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According to Gounder, “Before Thanksgiving, say mid-November, you want to get your flu shot, your COVID shot. But that said, whenever you can get it done, you should get it done, even if it’s a bit earlier than that,” CBS News reported.
However, as the expert noted, holding off before the beginning of the holiday would be beneficial as it generally takes almost two weeks to generate immunity after vaccination.
Who is at greater risk?
The reports suggest that those who are at the maximum risk for flu include:
- Children who “In particular, kids under the age of 5 are at risk,” Gounder said.
- Adults 65 and above
- Pregnant women, which is “a group that’s often forgotten about,” Gounder said.
- People with existing medical conditions
- Immunocompromised people
Rising deaths in the flu season
As the CDC reported, this flu season brought almost 200 children deaths, where most of them were eligible for vaccines but did not get one.
Moreover, despite federal officers’ persistent warnings, there has been a drop in the overall vaccination rate, leading to a rise in pediatric flu deaths.
According to Gounder, “Unfortunately, coming out of the COVID pandemic, we have seen a rise in vaccine skepticism, people less willing to get vaccinated, and as we’ve seen with the pediatric flu vaccines, that has led to increased hospitalizations as well as, unfortunately, some deaths,” CBS News reported.
Difference between vaccine shot and spray
With the recent approval of FluMist nasal spray, it has become the first “self-administered” influenza vaccine in the US.
However, the vaccine will not be available at home until the beginning of the next flu season.
As Gounder said, the difference between shot and spray is that FluMist is “not as effective as the shots that you can get.”
According to her, “The shots historically range from 20 to 60% effective, depending on how good the match is — that’s still pretty good,” CBS News reported.
“The FluMist is maybe around 25% effective in preventing severe disease, but for people who just can’t be bothered to go in and get a flu shot, who really hate needles, it does give you an option to at least reduce your risk a little,” she added.