While debate has raged for years about the efficacy of flu vaccines, the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advise strongly that your best line of defense against this potentially deadly virus is to get an annual seasonal flu vaccine.
Here are some dos and don’ts to consider before you get your flu vaccine this year:
DO Get Yourself Vaccinated Every Year.
The flu virus is not one virus at all -- it’s actually a term that refers to hundreds of types of viruses that fall into three strains of influenza -- A, B and C. And these viruses mutate very quickly. As such, every year, flu vaccines are designed to protect against the three (trivalent flu vaccines) or four (quadrivalent flu vaccines) strains of the virus that are expected to circulate most commonly each year.
Even if this year’s vaccine will protect against one of the strains you were vaccinated against last year, there is a chance that the virus may have mutated, and the antibodies your body produced after last year’s shot won’t be able to protect you from developing the illness. Not to mention, our antibody levels begin to drop over time, making an annual vaccine an important step to protecting ourselves against the flu.
DON’T Wait Until Flu Season Has Started.
Because the flu vaccine is produced by private manufacturers, when each year’s vaccine will be available may vary, but typically, they begin around July or August. Once you receive your shot or spray, it can take up to two weeks for your body to develop the antibodies necessary to develop immunity against the flu, so waiting until after flu season has started increases the likelihood that you will have been exposed to the virus in the days before or after getting vaccinated, rendering your shot useless.