Cases of the common flu virus spike every October in the United States, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is already cautioning Americans to take preventative measures during the coming months. But apart from staying away from sick people and aggressively washing your hands, the CDC has one major recommendation for citizens: get vaccinated. Make no mistake: the common flu can kill. Annual estimates of flu-associated deaths in the U.S. have ranged from 3,000 to 49,000 since 1976 as the virus mutates each year, with the majority of those deaths among adults 65 and older. “The biggest misconception people have is that the flu isn’t serious,” says Dr. Harry Leider, Chief Medical Officer for Walgreens. “People think that they’re perfectly healthy, or ‘I’ve had the flu, it’s no big deal.’ No, they’ve had a cold — the flu is a very different experience.” That’s why each year, the CDC works with more than 100 labs in 100 countries to conduct surveillance of regional illnesses and develop seasonal vaccines at five special World Health Organization centers to proactively defend against whatever strain of the flu spreads most around the globe.
In addition to the public sector focusing resources to ensure that vaccine-preventable diseases are kept at-bay, the private sector also sees the importance of participating in global vaccine efforts. For its part, Walgreens developed its Get a Shot, Give a Shot campaign, which has helped to provide over 15 million life-saving vaccines over the past three years. For every vaccine, including flu shots, administered at Walgreens, the company will donate the value of a life-saving vaccine to a child in need in a developing country. This is done in partnership with the United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign. This effort has helped make getting a flu shot an act of greater global benefit.
The traditional flu vaccines distributed in the U.S., called “trivalent” vaccines, protect against three different flu viruses (including the dreaded influenza A (H1N1)) by using samples of their genetic material to create an acquired immunity. These vaccines are distributed twice annually, but they’re often developed months ahead of the actually beginning of a seasonal epidemic.
Certain populations are at particular risk, including adults over 65, pregnant women and young children, according to the CDC. However, they recommend that everyone 6 months and older get vaccinated each year, regardless of risk profile. There’s also another reason vaccines are essential: some Americans, for reasons of age or preexisting medical problem, simply can’t get vaccinated. That’s why the CDC recommends immunization not just for individual health, but to mitigate the risk of spreading the flu to more vulnerable Americans through what’s called “herd immunity.”
“The virus simply won’t have enough ways to jump from one community to another, and that cuts down on the likelihood a sick person will come in contact with someone with a chronic disease or other vulnerability,” says Dr. Leider. This is why the CDC recommends that every American over the age of six months should get the most recent seasonal vaccine for influenza.
Because children under the age of six months and the elderly are particularly vulnerable, the CDC recommends that parents and healthcare providers who work at hospitals or with the elderly in particular get vaccinated as soon as possible.
Flu vaccines are available from regular doctors offices and health clinics, as well as many schools and employers, and local pharmacies. The top private-sector source of immunization in the country is Walgreens, which pioneered the in-pharmacy vaccination trend more than a decade ago and now immunizes more than 7 million Americans though its 8,000 stores. “Somewhere around 76 percent of Americans live within five miles of a Walgreens; most people don’t live within five miles of their doctor’s office,” says Leider. “The average American doesn’t have time to make an appointment and sit in a waiting room during the workday. With Walgreens open late, it’s easy: you make a turn into the parking lot, walk in, and you’re in and out in a matter of minutes.” The CDC is working to improve access to every American citizen under the “universal” immunization standards set in 2010. Walgreens is also in its sixth year of a flu shot voucher program developed with the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Through the program, Walgreens has distributed more than $50 million worth of flu shot vouchers to uninsured or underinsured individuals throughout the U.S., and this season the company aims to distribute more than $10 million worth of flu shot vouchers through various community outreach efforts. Come autumn, one of the smartest things you can do to avoid falling prey to the flu is to get your seasonal influenza vaccine. Health officials say we still have a long way to go: Only 47. 1 percent of Americans over the age of 18 were immunized during the 2014-2015 flu season. But with the twin efforts of groups like the CDC and Walgreens, getting vaccinated has never been easier.
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