You likely already know that you should get a flu vaccine each year to protect you from severe flu infections.
But do you know which flu vaccine you should get?
Which Flu Vaccine Should You Get This Year?
Wait, you didn’t know you had so many options to choose from?
Well, you do, or at at least you should.
With that, let’s take a look at what we have.
This year, flu vaccines include:
Afluria - a trivalent flu shot for those 6 months and over
Flurarix - a trivalent flu shot for those 6 months and over
FluLaval - a trivalent flu shot for those 6 months and over
Fluzone - a trivalent flu shot for those 6 months and over
Fluad - an adjuvanted trivalent flu shot for those 65 years and over
Fluzone High Dose - a high dose trivalent flu shot for those 65 years and over
FluceIvax - an egg-free, cell-culture based trivalent flu shot for those 6 months and over
FluMist - a live trivalent flu nasal spray for those 2 years and over
Flublok - an egg-free recombinant trivalent flu shot for those 9 years and over
mFlusiva - an mRNA trivalent flu shot for those 50 years and over
Okay, so notice anything?
Yeah, that’s right. Many of these are the same basic kinds of flu shots, but just different brands put out by different manufacturers.
So, your choices really are:
flu shot vs nasal spray - healthy and don’t want a shot, then Flumist is a good option if you are between 2 and 49 years
regular flu shot vs cell-culture based vs recombinant - although there is no contraindication to getting a flu vaccine if you have an egg allergy, if you are still worried, an egg-free flu vaccine might be a good choice for you.
regular flu shot vs recombinant - Flublok has a higher antigen count than regular flu shots, which may lead to stronger protection and is available if you are at least 9 years old.
regular flu shot vs adjuvanted/high dose/recombinant - if you are 65 or over, the choice is easy, get an adjuvanted or high dose or recombinant flu vaccine for better protection!
adjuvanted vs high dose vs recombinant - these are supposed to have similar effectiveness and there is no recommendation or preference of one over the other
And what about mFlusiva?
That’s the new mRNA flu vaccine for adults aged 50 and older.
“A phase 3 clinical trial showed that mFLUSIVA provided superior protection compared to a standard-dose shot.”
There’s a New mRNA Flu Shot Coming This Fall
And if you are between 50 and 65 years old, then it might be a good option for you instead of a regular flu shot.
But, since we don’t yet know if it is better than our adjuvanted or high-dose flu shots, it might not yet be for those who are 65 years and over.
What else?
If you are between 50 and 65 years old, you might also consider Flublok instead of a standard flu shot.
Lastly, while all of these choices might sound great, know that your provider or pharmacy might not have all of these different flu vaccines for you to choose from. So plan ahead if there is a specific flu vaccine that you want for you or your family.
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