Flu influenza vaccinations along with other immunizations are regularly administered to military personnel as part of regular preventive medical checkups.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has declared this National Influenza Vaccination Week in an effort to get more Americans immunized for the flu and other threats spread by the disease.
The week-long focus on the flu will spread the importance of getting a flu shot around this time every year, especially to those people who may be scared of getting the shot or do not know how to go about getting vaccinated.
The CDC is preparing for three different strands of the flu virus to circulate during the 2010-2011 flu season, and stressing that everyone 6 months and older should get a shot if they have already had one this season.
“People who do not get vaccinated are taking two risks,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, assistant surgeon general of the U.S. Public Health Service and director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “First, they are placing themselves at risk for the flu – including a potentially long and serious illness – and second, if they get sick, they are also placing their close contacts at risk for influenza.”
This year’s flu vaccine offers protection against the three strands of flu expected this year, including the 2009 H1N1 virus strain. About 160 million doses of the vaccine have already been given out around the country.
As of last week, health officials estimated that one in three Americans had already been given flu shot. That’s about the same rate as this time last year, which officials took as good news since the flu has not been given as much media attention as in 2009.