Give Yourself the Gift of Health, Get a Flu Shot, Says the CDC

Flu season is upon us, and the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta says it’s not too late to get vaccinated.

National Influenza Vaccination Week begins next Monday, December 2 and runs through Friday, December 8.

National Influenza Vaccination Week was established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2005 to highlight the importance of continuing flu vaccinations through the holiday season and beyond.

District 2 Public Health spokesman Dave Palmer tells WNEG News local health departments all have plenty of flu vaccine still available.

So, if you have not yet gotten the vaccine, he says now is a good time.

“I would encourage folks to go ahead and get the flu vaccine because it is the best protection against flu,” he said. “The best way to prevent flu is to prevent the spread of germs. We do that by washing our hands, covering our face when we cough or sneeze and to stay home when we are sick.”

Palmer said normally flu activity peaks in January and February, but in some years it has gone all the way into the summer months.

Area health departments have both types of flu vaccines available: the shot and the nasal spray.

The CDC recommends that all persons, six months of age and older, who can take the flu shot, be vaccinated.

And the “high-dose” influenza vaccine is recommended for individuals age 65 years and older.

Palmer said during last year’s flu season, the CDC estimated 49-million people were infected by flu viruses, which caused over 950,000 hospitalizations and an estimated 79,000 deaths.