Dr. Anthony Fauci has some simple advice about getting your flu shot — get it now.
- Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN on Monday that there’s no time to wait when it comes to the flu vaccine.
- “What you should do is get it as soon as you can and in the most expeditious manner,” he said.
Fauci’s call for getting the flu shot early comes as experts worry about a “twindemic,” or a combination of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak and the flu, which hits the United States every fall and winter.
Dr. Leana Wen, a visiting professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, told CNN that October is the right time to get your shot.
- “People who are older, with compromised immune systems, may have waning immunity, and so sometimes are (advised not) to get their flu vaccines too early,” she said. “However, ‘too early’ generally refers to August. October — essentially now — is entirely fine for these individuals to get vaccinated.”
Last year, Fauci said in an Instagram interview with actress Jennifer Garner that he would get his shot in October.
- “I wouldn’t necessarily get it now, in September, because there is evidence that, in fact, the immunity might wear off when you get to February and early March,” he said, according to CNBC.
Similarly, Dr. Miriam Alexander, with LifeBridge Health, recently told WBAL-TV 11 in 2020 that October is the right month to get your flu shot because the strains last from October to March in most cases.
- “The reason for that is the flu shot seems to only work for about six months and we always have quite a lot of flu in our communities in March. We want to make sure people are protected against the flu in March.”