Even though flu season isn’t in full swing, now is the time to get vaccinated, say health experts. More children than ever got vaccinated last year, but health experts say the U.S. needs to do better, as many young and middle-aged adults still neglect to get the vaccine, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Flu vaccine is recommended for nearly everyone ages six months and older.
Paul Biddinger, a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and director of operations in its emergency department, as well as director of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Exercise Program at Harvard School of Public Health, said at a September 26, 2013 National Foundation for Infectious Diseases news conference that he treated many people last year who told him they regretted not having been vaccinated. Boston declared a public health emergency last January when hospitals were filled with flu patients.
“Now is the time to get vaccinated,” Biddinger said in a September 26, 2013 Minneapolis Star Tribune article. “Don’t wait until it’s in your community.”
Watch a news conference featuring Paul Biddinger and other experts
Read the Minneapolis Star Tribune article
Learn more
Flu’s coming, but which kind? (Harvard Gazette)