When should I get an influenza vaccine?
The best time to get a flu shot is in October or November. Some people should get their flu shot in October or earlier. This includes:
- people 50 years of age and older
- younger people at high risk from flu and its complications (including children 6 through 23 months of age)
- household contacts of persons at high risk
- health care workers
- children under 9 years of age getting the flu shot for the first time
The flu season can peak anywhere from December through March, but most often it peaks in February. So getting the vaccine in December, or even later, can be beneficial in most years. Most people need only one flu shot each year to prevent influenza.
Children under 9 years old getting flu vaccine for the first time should get 2 doses. With the inactivated vaccine, these doses are given one month apart. Children in this age group who got one dose the previous year, even if it was the first time they got the vaccine, need only one dose this year.
