Why is it Important to Get Your Flu Shot?
Getting your flu shot helps you and your neighbors
It’s essential to get your flu shot every year, especially as COVID-19, monkeypox, and other infectious diseases grow to be more common. By receiving your vaccination against the flu, you can prevent infection in general, as well as severe outcomes. Preventing severe outcomes means fewer interruptions of your daily life, like missed workdays, doctor appointments, and testing because of symptoms.
Have peace of mind knowing that the vaccine is updated almost yearly.
The CDC works year-round to constantly improve the flu vaccine. The composition of the vaccine has been updated for the 2022 flu season. Going forward, all vaccines for the flu will be quadrivalent, meaning that they will protect against four different flu viruses.
Flu season coincides with the time of year that many people are also receiving a COVID-19 booster if they’re eligible. Luckily, flu vaccines and COVID-19 vaccines can be given at the same time. Ask your doctor about getting both shots at the same time.
Flu vaccination can also help prevent flu and COVID-19 co-infections, which can cause more severe illnesses.
Why everyone needs their flu shot, by the numbers
Getting vaccinated against the flu could keep you from unnecessary hospitalization or doctor’s visit. Many Americans find themselves in the hospital due to influenza yearly, you could stop yourself from becoming a statistic. During the 2019-2020 flu vaccination prevented an estimated 3.7 million influenza-associated medical visits, 105,000 influenza-associated hospitalizations, and 6,300 influenza-associated deaths.
Why does everyone need their flu shot? Here’s how it prevents serious outcomes in several populations:
Pregnant people
Vaccination reduces the risk of flu-associated acute respiratory infection in pregnant people by about one-half.
People with chronic heart and lung conditions
Flu vaccination has been associated with lower rates of some cardiac events among people with heart disease, especially among those who have had a cardiac event in the past year. It has also been proven to reduce the risk of a flu-related worsening of chronic lung disease (for example, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which usually requires hospitalization.
Children
It’s important that children receive their flu vaccine before attending school, as schools are high-risk environments for transmission. The flu shot could prevent them from dying from the sickness as well. In 2017, a study showed that flu vaccination can significantly reduce children’s risk of dying from flu.
People with diabetes
Among those with diabetes, flu vaccination also has been shown in separate studies to be associated with reduced hospitalizations from a worsening of their chronic condition.
Why getting vaccinated for the flu is doubly important this season
In this video, the Mayo Clinic explains why it’s even more important to get your flu shot during the COVID-19 pandemic.