October. It’s that time of year again: back-to-school events, football games, cooler weather, pumpkins in stock at the grocery store and . . . the beginning of flu season. That’s right. Think of those pumpkins as the “orange flags” of the season and reminders to get your vaccine before Halloween!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Recommends a Flu Shot or Nasal Spray “by the end of October”

Flu shots and nasal sprays are vaccines that protect you against the flu—several types are available this year, ask your health care provider which one is best for you. These vaccines are safe, and everyone six months and older, including pregnant women, should be vaccinated.

For over 50 years, hundreds of millions of flu vaccines have been given to Americans. Every year, these vaccines have prevented millions of illnesses, tens of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths.

How well a flu vaccine protects you changes from year to year and that’s because the flu virus changes every year—different flu, different vaccine. Some years, the vaccine works better than other years, but every year your flu vaccine does three important things: it can protect you from getting sick with the flu; you’ll feel less sick if you do get the flu; and finally, after you are vaccinated, you are protecting other people who are around you, especially babies, young children, older people and people with health issues.

Some People Have a Higher Chance of Health Problems from the Flu:

• Children younger than 5, but especially children younger than 2.
• People 65 and older.
• People with asthma, heart disease, lung disease, and neurological and neurodevelopmental conditions.
• People with blood, kidney, liver, endocrine and metabolic disorders, including diabetes.
• People who have weak immune systems because of a disease or medications.
• Pregnant women and women during the first two weeks after giving birth.
• People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

Find Flu Vaccine in Your Area

Flu vaccines are offered at health care providers’ offices, clinics, county health departments, pharmacies, schools, college health centers and from many employers. Find flu vaccine in your area: VaccineFinder.org. Learn more: FluFreeFlorida.com.

Help Us Spread the Word About Flu Vaccine in October

Florida Health offers campaign toolkits for the public and our health partners to help spread public health information. Once you’re on our toolkits page, scroll down to Flu Vaccine Before Halloween where you’ll find posters, ads and social media graphics that are available for you to use.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.