Anyone can get influenza, but some people are more susceptible than others. Similarly, while most people will heal quickly, for others, a bout of the flu can be very serious. One of the best ways to protect yourself and those around you is to get your flu vaccine.
Dr. Vijaya Nama and her team of talented providers work to help you and your family stay healthy, and we advise virtually everyone, with a few important exceptions, to get a flu shot each year. The timing matters, though. If you get your shot too early in the year, before flu season begins, you may not have strong antibodies when you need them.
In this post, we discuss the ideal window of time to get a flu shot for optimal protection, and we take a look at a common myth about the vaccine.
The best way to avoid getting the flu is simple: get a shot each year. The vaccine is slightly different every year, based on which viral strains researchers expect to be in circulation during that year’s flu season.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that almost everyone get an annual flu vaccine. The two exceptions include babies younger than six months old and people who have severe allergies to the vaccine’s ingredients.
People who have a higher risk of complications to influenza are especially encouraged to get the shot. For example, children younger than five and people over the age of 60 are at a higher risk.
The person who gets the vaccine gets protection, of course, but the fewer cases of flu are circulating benefits everyone, since everyone has increased protection. People who get vaccinated are both less likely to get the flu and less likely to spread it.
To some degree, the best timing for a flu shot varies each year because flu season varies. Broadly speaking, flu season is from late fall to late spring, and it tends to peak from December to February.
When you get your vaccine early in the season, before the end of October, you have the best chance of being protected for the whole of the season. It takes about two weeks for your body to produce the antibodies that protect you from the flu.
Most years, cases of the flu begin to dramatically increase by mid-October. Many years, it continues to circulate until spring, and some years, right through May. Getting your vaccination in early fall provides protection for about six months, so for the whole season.
Getting your shot too soon, though, could reduce your protection. For example, you wouldn’t want to get your vaccine in July or August since your protection would run out before flu season ends.
The most common myth about the flu shot is that you can get the flu from the vaccine. It’s very likely you even know someone who says that happened to them.
The flu vaccine is made with either dead viral material or a single protein from live material. Dead viral material isn’t active and can’t cause illness, and a single protein vaccine only triggers your immune response and can’t cause illness.
The most common side effect of the vaccine is slight tenderness or redness at the injection site. More rarely, you may feel slightly fatigued or have very mild muscle aches that resolve within a day or so.
Although we encourage you to schedule your appointment for a flu shot by mid-October, you can still benefit through November. Protect yourself, your family, and your community by getting a flu shot this year!
