Which Flu Shot Is the Most Effective for the 2022-2023 Flu Season?
Key takeaways:
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There are nine flu vaccines available for the 2022-2023 flu season.
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Some flu vaccines may be a better option for certain people, including older adults and those with egg allergies.
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It’s best to get your flu vaccine by the end of October, but getting vaccinated later than that is still beneficial.
While no one knows for sure just how bad the upcoming flu season will be, here’s some flu information we know so far:
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The 2021-2022 flu season was less severe than typical years. But unlike most years, there seemed to be two peaks of flu activity: one in December 2021 and another in April 2022. This is thought to be due to people performing more social distancing between January and March in response to the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Experts aren’t sure if the 2022-2023 season will be more or less severe than last year. The 2020-2021 flu season was unusually mild compared to what’s been seen in past years. This could be due to multiple factors, including higher flu vaccination rates during 2020 and the effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on social distancing and hand washing. Experts are not sure if this will be the case again for the 2021-2022 flu season.
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Flu transmission rates in other countries are lower than usual so far this year. The World Health Organization (WHO) meets twice a year — in February and September — to review flu activity around the world and recommend which strains to include in the flu vaccine. Flu transmission in the Southern Hemisphere countries — like Australia — can help predict what the U.S. flu season might be like. Australia has been having a milder flu season than usual so far. had a record low number of cases of the flu during 2021. Hopefully, that means the U.S. will too.
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Even though the flu vaccine doesn’t protect against all strains of the flu, it’s still recommended for everyone over the age of 6 months. The flu vaccine is typically about 40% to 60% effective, and it’s hard to predict if the current flu vaccines will be a good match for the strains going around. But it’s still one of the best ways to help prevent getting sick with the flu.