Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends annual flu vaccination for everyone age 6 months or older. The flu vaccine can reduce your risk of the flu and its severity and lower the risk of having serious illness from the flu and needing to stay in the hospital.

Flu vaccination is especially important this season because the flu and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cause similar symptoms. Flu vaccination could reduce symptoms that might be confused with those caused by COVID-19. Preventing the flu and reducing the severity of flu illness and hospitalizations could also lessen the number of people needing to stay in the hospital.

It may be possible to get a COVID-19 vaccine at the same time as your flu vaccine.

This year's seasonal flu vaccine provides protection from the four influenza viruses that are expected to be the most common during the year's flu season. This year, the vaccine will be available as an injection and as a nasal spray.

The nasal spray isn't recommended for some groups, such as:

• Children under 2
• Adults 50 and older
• Pregnant women
• Children between 2 and 17 years old who are taking aspirin or a salicylate-containing medication
• People with weakened immune systems
• Kids 2 to 4 years old who have had asthma or wheezing in the past 12 months

If you have an egg allergy, you can still get a flu vaccine.

Controlling the spread of infection

The influenza vaccine isn't 100% effective, so it's also important to take several measures to reduce the spread of infection, including:

• Wash your hands. Washing your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds is an effective way to prevent many common infections. Or use alcohol-based hand sanitizers if soap and water aren't available.
• Avoid touching your face. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.
• Cover your coughs and sneezes. Cough or sneeze into a tissue or your elbow. Then wash your hands.
• Clean surfaces. Regularly clean often-touched surfaces to prevent spread of infection from touching a surface with the virus on it and then your face.

• Avoid crowds. The flu spreads easily wherever people gather — in child care centers, schools, office buildings, auditoriums and public transportation. By avoiding crowds during peak flu season, you reduce your chances of infection.

  Also avoid anyone who is sick. And if you're sick, stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone so that you lessen your chance of infecting others.

Both COVID-19 and the flu may be spreading at the same time. Your local health department and the CDC may suggest other precautions to reduce your risk of COVID-19 or the flu if you haven't been fully vaccinated. For example, you may need to practice social distancing (physical distancing) and stay at least 6 feet (2 meters) from others outside your household. You may also need to wear a cloth face mask when indoors with people outside your household and when outdoors in crowded areas. If you're fully vaccinated and are in an area with a high number of new COVID-19 cases in the last week, the CDC also recommends wearing a mask indoors in public and outdoors in crowded areas or when you're in close contact with unvaccinated people.