What You Need to Know About Getting the Flu Shot This Year

The vaccine lowers risk of serious symptoms that disproportionately affect older adults

Rachel Nania,

AARP

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En español

Published September 03, 2024

Photo Collage: AARP (Source: Shutterstock)

Even though temperatures are still summerlike in many areas of the country, it’s time to start preparing for the coming cold and flu season.

Health officials are predicting that the 2024-2025 respiratory illness season will be similar to last year’s, possibly even better.

“That being said, there are a lot of assumptions that go into a projection,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Mandy Cohen, M.D., said at an August press briefing. “If those assumptions prove wrong, say, for example, the number of people who ultimately get vaccinated against flu, COVID-19 and RSV is lower than expected, then that could mean more hospitalizations, not fewer.”

Newly updated COVID-19 vaccines were recently approved and are making their way to pharmacies and clinics nationwide. Flu shots for the 2024-2025 are also starting to become available and are especially important for older adults who are at higher risk for getting seriously ill if infected.

The CDC estimates that between 70 and 85 percent of flu-related deaths in the United States occur among adults 65 and older, and as many as 70 percent of flu-related hospitalizations happen to people in this age group.

“Influenza is a serious illness, and people need to be thinking of it as such,” says Mark Rupp, M.D., a professor and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

But often people don’t think of flu as being as serious as some other diseases, says Kathleen Linder, M.D. a clinical assistant professor of infectious diseases at Michigan Medicine.

“I think part of the challenge is that people use the word ‘flu’ to mean a lot of different illnesses,” Linder says. “You hear people talk about the stomach flu, which isn't influenza at all. And I think it's just important to remember that influenza proper can be very, very dangerous. Some of the sickest patients that we see in our ICU are people who have influenza.”

Research shows the flu vaccine can lower your risk of hospitalization and death from influenza. Rupp says that on an average year, “there's somewhere around 25,000 deaths in the United States due to influenza that can be very much diminished at risk by getting an influenza vaccine.”

Here’s what you need to know about getting the shot this year.

1. The vaccine targets three influenza viruses

Similar to the COVID-19 vaccine, the composition of the flu vaccine is updated each year to target stains of the influenza virus that health officials expect will be circulating.

This year’s flu shot will be trivalent, meaning it will protect against three different influenza viruses, including H1N1, H3N2 and a B/Victoria lineage virus.

2. Older adults need a high-dose version

There are different flu vaccine options available, and for people under 65, health officials don’t recommend any licensed vaccine over another. However, adults 65-plus should choose one of the higher-dose vaccines available, the CDC says. The high-dose shots are:

“The issue is that as people get older, their immunologic response is not as robust as younger, healthier people,” Rupp says.

In order to account for this, he says, you can either get a flu vaccine with a higher antigen level — a marker that tells the body's immune system that something is harmful — or that includes an ingredient called adjuvant, which stimulates the immune system to create a stronger immune response.

“Both of them are ways in which you can get older people to have an appropriate amount of protection,” Rupp says.

These higher-dose shots may result in more of the temporary, mild side effects that you’d expect from a standard-dose flu vaccine, the CDC says. Common side effects from the flu shot can include:

Pain, redness or swelling at the injection site
Headache
Fever
Nausea
Muscle ache
Fatigue

Vaccine side effects typically disappear after a few days and are normal signs that the body is building protection.

3. It’s best to be vaccinated by the end of October

The best time to get the flu vaccine is in September or October, the CDC says. If you get it too early, say in July or August, you “might run out of immunity by the end of the season,” Linder says. Flu season in the United States typically stretches from October to February, though activity can last as late as May, according to the CDC.

It takes about two weeks after you are vaccinated for immunity to fully set in.

4. You can get your flu shot with COVID-19 and RSV vaccines

Like last year, the advice from experts this fall is that the flu and COVID-19 vaccines can be given at the same appointment, so there’s no need to make two separate trips to the pharmacy or doctor’s office.

You can also get your flu shot with an RSV vaccine, which is recommended just one time for everyone 75 and older and people 60 to 74 with certain health conditions. If you’re due for all three vaccines, it’s fine to get them all at once, the CDC says.

You can find flu, COVID-19 and RSV shots near you at vaccines.gov.

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