Shipments began so early that drugstores are offering vaccinations amid their back-to-school sales.
But without last year’s scare factor, the question is how many people will heed the new policy for near-universal vaccination. No more stopping to check whether you’re on a high-risk list: A yearly dose is recommended for virtually everyone except babies younger than 6 months — the shot isn’t approved for them — and people with severe allergies to the eggs used to brew it.
“Influenza is serious, and anyone, including healthy people, can get the flu and spread the flu,’’ said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Flu vaccines are the best way to protect yourself and those around you.’’
The CDC was moving toward that policy even before last year’s pandemic brought home an inescapable fact: The flu virus doesn’t just kill grandparents and people with weak lungs or hearts, although they’re particularly vulnerable. It also can kill healthy pregnant women, 30-somethings, and 5-year-olds.
“We were discussing how we were going to go get his Star Wars Halloween costume after he got out of the hospital . . . and all of a sudden his eyes lost their focus,’’ said Serese Marotta of Dayton, Ohio, describing for reporters how her son Joseph, 5, died of swine flu in October before vaccine was available in her community. She urged families to make vaccination a priority.
The new vaccine protects against a different strain of the H3N2 influenza family that has cropped up, as well as last year’s swine flu, part of the H1N1 family, and a Type B strain. Every year a different vaccine is brewed to match the constantly changing flu strains that circle the globe.
There a new high-dose version for seniors because immune systems weaken with age and do not respond as actively to a flu shot. Sanofi Pasteur’s Fluzone High-Dose quadruples the standard dose for people 65 and older. This winter, scientists will track whether that translates into less illness. Until that proof is in, the CDC says it’s OK to choose either option.
Most people will need just one shot, but any children under 9 getting their first flu vaccine will need two, a month apart, to prime their immune systems.
Those at high risk for the flu include young children, anyone 50 or older, anyone with chronic medical conditions such as asthma or heart disease, and pregnant women. Also, health workers and caregivers of infants can infect the vulnerable unless vaccinated.
