It's October and time for flu shots. Medical experts urge getting a flu vaccination soon, before influenza starts spreading widely—and to get up to date on protection against other fall respiratory viruses, too, per the AP. Updated COVID-19 shots are available now, plus shots for people especially vulnerable to another winter risk called RSV. While these infections make some people feel miserable for a few days before they recover, every year flu alone causes hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations in the US and kills tens of thousands.
Vaccination isn't "a guarantee that we're going to prevent illness. But just like the seatbelt in your car, it decreases risk" of the worst outcomes, says Dr. Ryan Stanton of the American College of Emergency Physicians. Fall vaccine advice usually comes from the CDC and its independent advisory panel. But this year that panel, which influences state and insurance vaccine policies, is caught in a court battle, and the CDC hasn't updated its flu advice. Now doctors' groups are filling in: The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America have posted vaccination guidelines for their patient populations, plus scientific evidence for them.
Just about everybody starting at age 6 months needs flu vaccination, the medical societies agree. But flu is particularly dangerous for people 65 and older, pregnant women, young children, and people of any age with chronic health problems, including asthma, diabetes, heart disease, and weak immune systems. The last two flu seasons brought unusually high numbers of child deaths, the vast majority of them in unvaccinated kids. The vaccines don't block all flu infections, but they do help prevent the worst outcomes, decreasing older adults' hospitalizations by 31% last year, per the Vaccine Integrity Project.
COVID-19 shots once were recommended for just about everyone by federal health agencies, but like last year, the FDA has only formally approved them for higher-risk people—those ages 65 and older, or younger people with at least one health condition that increases their risk. Still, the family physicians recommend all adults get a COVID-19 vaccination, especially seniors and those with other risk factors. Adults 65 and older should get a fall dose and then a second dose six months later, as immunity wanes over time, one doctor notes. More here on where and exactly when to get vaccinated.
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