"Ideally, we'd want to match our boosting to afford us optimum levels of immunity when the virus is actually on the rise." "I'd say it's best to keep eyes on what flu activity is like in your area," says Jeremy Kamil, an immunologist at Louisiana State University. Others say adults might reasonably wait until it seems like cases in their region are increasing. "Protection by flu vaccines is usually weak and short-lived," he notes, "so getting vaccinated too early provides too little protection when the virus is actually circulating. "I'll get mine sometime in November," says John Moore, an immunologist at Weil Cornell Medicine. Still, some experts say they're planning to wait several weeks yet to get their own shot. "So getting the vaccine earlier is definitely a good idea," Truelove says. And what happens during the winter south of the equator often foreshadows that will happen in the Northern Hemisphere. There's another reason for many other adults to get a flu shot sooner than later: The flu season hit early and hard in some countries in the Southern Hemisphere (such as Australia) this past winter. Walter Orenstein, a vaccine specialist at Emory University who previously worked at the CDC. I tend to get my vaccination in October," says Dr. "For the elderly, I would not recommend vaccination until September at the earliest, since immunity can wane. Also, the CDC notes, young children would do well to get a flu shot soon because they require two shots one month apart, and it takes time to build up immunity.īecause the protection that flu vaccination provides to the elderly tends to wane faster than for other adults, many experts recommend against that group getting vaccinated too early - but one now is fine. The reason experts are particularly concerned about the flu this year is that many people, especially very young children, may have little or no immunity against the respiratory infection because the masking, social distancing and other behaviors aimed at protecting against COVID have blunted flu's spread, too. But this year, he says, "flu cases are already starting to go up, so it makes sense to get it sooner - i.e., now." "So in a normal year, I would probably try to wait until mid-October and get the flu shot then," he says.
"In normal years, it makes sense to hold off on the flu shot until late fall, as protection really doesn't last more than a few months and late fall/winter is when the flu wave usually hits here," says Deepta Bhattacharya, an immunologist at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. The usual flu season starts in November in the U.S. "People should get them now," agrees Shaun Truelove, an assistant scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who's helping lead a new effort to project this year's flu season for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. William Schaffner, a professor of infectious disease at Vanderbilt University. "It's time to get your flu shot right now," advises Dr. It depends on which expert you talk to and, maybe, on your age and particular situation. as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down society, there are hints the flu could reemerge this fall, potentially causing an unusually early and possibly severe flu season.Īs a result, many experts are urging people to get their flu shots right away to make sure they're protected. After virtually disappearing for two years in the U.S.
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