Flu Shot: What you Need to Know


While many vaccines offer lifetime immunity, the flu vaccine must be administered every year. Because each flu season is unique, the flu shot protects against those influenza viruses that are most prevalent in that year.


How effective is the Flu Shot?

"In general, the flu vaccine will protect about two-thirds of persons who get it," says Jon McCullers, MD, the pediatrician-in-chief at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. "This can be affected by many personal factors such as age, previous flu vaccinations, the circulating viral strain, your immune system, and other factors."


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The flu shot doesn't guarantee you won't get the flu. Flu viruses can change (mutate) constantly, making it possible to escape the protections that flu vaccines have provided.

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Flu shot effectiveness can also be affected by the fact that some flu shots are not effective due to insufficient match between the seasonal flu vaccine strains and the circulating strains.

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Vaccinations against flu aren't 100% effective. However, flu complications are much less common in people who have been immunized.


According to the CDC, it's been estimated that the yearly jab prevented 719,000 hospitalizations in the United States and 60,000 deaths between 2010 and 2020.

"Even though the flu vaccine may not be a good match every year, there's partial protection. Your immune system can still make antibodies that recognize and bind the influenza virus to new strains," said Kevin Harrod, PhD. He is an infectious disease researcher at University of Alabama's Heersink school of Medicine in Birmingham.

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