Q: Does it matter which flu vaccine my children get this year and when they get it?
A: Many people don't realize it, but flu can be a very serious illness. It causes thousands of deaths in the United States every year, even among previously healthy children. With COVID-19 expected to still be spreading this fall and winter, it is even more important to protect your child from viruses like influenza.
As a parent, the best thing you can do to protect your children from the flu is to get them vaccinated right away. All children ages 6 months and older should get their influenza vaccine as soon as possible. Everyone around your children should be vaccinated, too.
For the 2021-22 influenza season, two types of influenza vaccines are available. The first is what many people call the flu shot. The second comes as a nasal spray. All the vaccines available for children this year contain four influenza viruses (two A and two B viruses).
Both the AAP and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention want as many children as possible to get a flu vaccine every year. The AAP recommends that any licensed vaccine available this year and appropriate for a child's age and health status be given to children, with no preference. Both types of available flu vaccine (flu shot or nasal spray) can be given according to their indications, with no preference, this season.
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If your child is eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, it can be given at the same time as the flu vaccine, or at any time. Talk with your pediatrician about your child getting the flu vaccine along with other recommended immunizations.
Last flu season was unusual, with physical distancing, mask-wearing, hand hygiene and other steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and possibly doing the same for the flu. However, flu and COVID-19 are predicted to spread this winter.
Children with COVID-19 can still get a flu vaccine after they have recovered from their COVID-19 illness. Keep in mind that symptoms such as a stuffy and runny nose can make it hard to give the nasal spray vaccine.
A child who had an allergic reaction after a flu vaccine in the past should be seen by an allergist. The allergist can help parents decide if their child should receive their annual flu vaccination. A child with a known history of egg allergy can receive the flu vaccine.
When possible, children should get the flu shot immediately. There's no need to wait, even if your child got the previous year's flu vaccine in March or April. Influenza season typically peaks in February, so it’s not too late to get the shot. Children 6 months to 8 years of age should receive two doses if this is the first time they are being vaccinated against influenza, or if they have only received one dose of flu vaccine ever before July 1.
It's a great idea to go to your pediatrician’s office for the vaccine. Your pediatrician knows your child best. The pediatrician's office has your child's health information, making it easy to keep track of the flu shot in the health record.
Now more than ever, it is important to stay connected to your pediatrician and your medical home. Many pediatricians also offer flu shot clinics, including curbside and drive-through clinics.
If your child needs to go somewhere else, such as a pharmacy or retail-based clinic, parents should share the document they receive with the pediatrician.
Remember, getting vaccinated is the best way to protect your children, yourself, and your parents and grandparents from the flu.
What to know about getting the flu vaccine this year
What to know about getting the flu vaccine this year
This year, COVID-19 vaccines have been the subject of everything from presidential speeches to hip-hop song parodies. Experts are saying that COVID-19 vaccination is especially important as the U.S. heads into the holiday season, when cold weather will intersect with family gatherings across the country. But the novel coronavirus isn’t the only respiratory disease that may hit the country this winter.
Winter also marks the peak of flu season in the Northern Hemisphere. While the flu is not often at the forefront of most Americans’ minds, it does take a heavy toll on the country. The disease has killed between 12,000 and 52,000 people a year between 2010 and 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Millions more people become infected with the flu, and hundreds of thousands require hospitalizations.
In 2021, many public health experts are concerned that the flu season could be particularly hard on the U.S. Last year’s flu season was unusually mild, largely thanks to widespread mask-wearing, social distancing, reduced travel, and other COVID-19 precautions. But this year, as restrictions have been lifted across the country, the flu could pack a harder punch. Americans’ immune systems may have forgotten how to protect against the flu because many of us weren’t exposed last year, explains Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, author of Your Local Epidemiologist.
Stacker compiled a list of 10 key facts for this year’s flu season from the CDC, the Association for Health Care Journalists, and other scientific and news sources. Read on to learn when to get your flu shot, who is eligible, and more.
You may also like: Answers to 25 common COVID-19 vaccine questions
You can get your flu and COVID-19 shots at the same time
Though COVID-19 and the flu require two different vaccines, Americans are able to get their shots for both diseases in one doctor’s visit or one trip to the pharmacy. Other vaccines are often administered at the same time—especially for kids getting their routine childhood immunizations—and this practice does not impact protection from disease or potential side effects, the CDC says. Common pharmacies like Walgreens are making it easy for people to get two vaccinations in one trip, including those adults who are eligible for a Pfizer booster shot.
Children older than 6 months should get flu shots
The CDC recommends that everyone 6 months old and older gets a flu shot, and considers young children (between 6 months and 4 years old) to be “high priority” in vaccine distribution. While parents of young children wait for the Food and Drug Administration to determine authorization for child-size doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, they can still take their kids to get flu shots.
Experts are concerned about a flu and COVID-19 'twindemic'
Many health experts are specifically encouraging flu vaccination this fall. If the flu and COVID-19 spread widely at the same time, the U.S. may face a twin pandemic, or “twindemic.” A “twindemic” could be devastating for health care systems because the flu and COVID-19 share some common symptoms—making them difficult to distinguish without testing—and require similar equipment for severely ill patients, such as ventilators.
Last year's flu season was unusually mild
Though experts worried about a “twindemic” last fall and winter as well, the 2020–2021 flu season proved to be quite mild, with low case numbers. This was a “pleasant surprise,” Dr. William Schaffner, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, told the Association for Health Care Journalists. Like other experts, Dr. Schaffner credited the previous mild season to masks, social distancing, and other COVID-19 precautions, which stalled respiratory disease spread at a broader level. This winter, with restrictions lifted and many Americans vaccinated against COVID-19, the flu season may be much more intense.
Flu shots contain inactivated flu viruses
The most common flu vaccine—administered as a shot in the arm—contains a lab-made influenza virus that has been inactivated, meaning it won’t cause the flu. Another type of flu vaccine contains a live but weakened influenza virus. Both of these virus types differ from the COVID-19 vaccines currently on the market in the U.S., but other COVID-19 vaccines, such as the Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines produced in China, are inactivated virus vaccines.
Flu and COVID-19 shots have similar side effects
Similarly to COVID-19 vaccines, the most common side effect for a flu shot is a sore arm. The flu shot shouldn’t pack a more severe punch this year, reports Julia Craven at Slate, but people may be more likely to notice that side effect because of their experiences with COVID-19 shots. Craven also wrote that the flu shots’ inclusion of four different flu virus strains does not impact side effects.
Get your shot by the end of October
The best time to get your flu shot is in September or October, and you should aim to receive that shot by the end of October, the CDC says. The agency recommends that older adults should get vaccinated in the fall, not in July or August, because the vaccine’s effectiveness may decrease over time. If you don’t get your shot by the end of October, though, you can still get vaccinated later and have protection against the flu through the remainder of the disease’s season.
Flu shots are especially important if you're traveling
If you’re traveling internationally or visiting more vulnerable relatives for the holiday season, a flu shot may be an important pre-trip protection. The CDC recommends getting your vaccination at least two weeks before your trip, because—like with the COVID-19 vaccines—it takes about two weeks for your immune system to develop protection against the virus.
