- AstraZeneca's FluMist Home received FDA approval as the first at-home flu vaccine.
- Adults ages 18 to 49 and children ages 2 to 17 can use the needle-free nasal spray.
- People with certain allergies or existing medical conditions must disclose that to see if they qualify.
AstraZeneca’s FluMist influenza vaccine could be coming to a mailbox near you. The company has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for FluMist Home, the first-ever at-home flu vaccine.
Once eligibility requirements are met, the needle-free nasal spray can be self-administered by adults ages 18 to 49. Adults can also give the vaccine to children ages 2 to 17.
In a media briefing Thursday ahead of Friday’s launch, Joris Silon, AstraZeneca’s U.S. president, said FluMist’s direct-to-patient, direct-to consumer delivery underscores the company’s “commitment to innovation.” He called it an example of the company “pushing the boundaries not only of science, but also invention and innovation to make a difference for patients’ health and public health” in the U.S.
For Shelle Allen, a board member of Families Fighting Flu, influenza vaccination has become a personal crusade. She told reporters that 15 years ago, her daughter was a healthy, active 12-year-old, then she got the flu. She hadn’t been vaccinated that year, Allen said, not because her family didn’t believe in vaccines, but because they got busy and didn’t get it done.
She was so sick doctors said she was more apt to die than to live. She spent 93 days hospitalized, was on a ventilator and was in an induced coma for five weeks.
She did live — but she had to relearn to walk, talk and even write her name. Allen said her daughter will live with lung disease for the rest of her life.
Allen said that while flu vaccines aren’t 100% effective, “but they remain our very best chance for protection.”
Influenza’s dangers
Tonya Villafana, a company vice president, cited Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showing the 2024-25 flu season was one of the most severe in recent memory, with 610,000 hospitalizations and more than 27,000 deaths, including 200 children. Meanwhile, vaccine rates have fallen below pre-pandemic levels.
U.S. adults between ages 18 and 49 had the lowest vaccine rate, at 37.5%. For children last season, it was 48%, compared to 62.4% before the pandemic, according to Dr. Ravi Jhaveri, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago infectious diseases division head and professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He said the nasal vaccine could reach people who might not come into a clinic.
Villafana agrees, noting a vaccine you can administer at home can “remove traditional obstacles to vaccination — things like scheduling clinic visits, waiting in line and the fear of needles."
Nuts and bolts of ordering, using
This flu season, the medication will be available in 34 states covering about 80% of the eligible population. Some states have pharmacy laws the company is working through in hopes of reaching all 48 contiguous states next year.
The vaccine for at-home use is not available yet in Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and West Virginia.
Those 18 and older can go online to FluMist.com and answer a short health questionnaire that will be reviewed by a health care provider to ensure the person qualifies. Once insurance is also verified, FluMist Home will be shipped. The consumer can select when receiving it will be convenient. The package includes clear use and storage instructions in case it can’t be administered right away.
Andrew Leone, AstraZeneca’s marketing and sales director over U.S. vaccines and immune therapies, said consumers can download vaccine verification to send to their doctor and to state registries. Then you pop the container into a prepaid envelope and mail it back, where it will be appropriately disposed of.
The company warns that some people can’t use the nasal vaccine, including those who are allergic to eggs or components of flu vaccines. Children and adolescents who are on aspirin therapy should not take it. All medical conditions including asthma, wheezing or Guillain-Barre syndrome need to be disclosed.