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Flu season is around the corner and it is time for your yearly flu vaccine. Flu season starts in October and runs until May. Getting the flu vaccine is one of three steps to help prevent you from getting the flu. The other two are taking every day precautions, like washing your hands and taking the antiviral medication that your physician may prescribe.

I know that there are some people that will say, “I have never had the flu vaccine and I will not start now” or “every time I get the flu vaccine, I get sick so I am not taking the vaccine” or “I have gotten the flu vaccine and I still got the flu”. Remember the purpose of this website is to educate and empower. Eventually the decision to get the vaccine will be yours.

It is recommended that everyone 6 months and older get the flu vaccine, however there are a set of people that really, really need to get the flu vaccine; if they get the flu, they are at increased risk of serious complications including death. These people are:

• People older than 65 years of age
• People with chronic medical condition like asthma, diabetes, cancer or HIV
• Women who are pregnant
• People living in a nursing home or long-term facility
• American-Indians and Alaskan Natives
• Health care workers and caregivers (you are included in this list because you are exposed to a lot of people and possibility of spreading the flu to vulnerable people is great if you get sick)

You can get the flu vaccine at your physician’s office, pharmacies, college campus health centers,  health departments and work. If you do not have insurance, the health departments and pharmacies tend to be the cheapest places to get it.

For more information, please check the following:

What you should know for the 2016-2017  influenza season

Preventing the flu: Good health habits can stop germs

And for those of you who might be curious, I got my flu vaccine this past Friday.