My husband and I got ours last week. I am doing a lot of traveling this fall and want to be fully protected for being in airplanes and international airports.
Fluzone high dose has four times the antigens (seems like getting four regular flu vaccine shots). But it is only a trivalent vaccine, so it contains no vaccine against the second B strain.
My daughter and I both got our flu vaccines at CVS today – and I also got the Shingrex vaccine (in my other arm).
Some years I have waited until early- to mid-October for my flu shot, but there is no need to wait.
I tried to get the flu shot at Target…but I have a Medicare Advantage PPO Plan…and Target wouldn’t take that one. Honestly…annoyed me.
I think I will be getting it at no charge where I’m working right now. If that doesn’t work out, 8 have n appointment with my PCP for the flu and shingles shots…in October.
I have always gotten our flu shots for all 4 of us as soon as they are available–at the MD’s office if that’s when we find out they’ve arrived, at Longs/CVS if that’s where we find it. All of us have NEVER gotten the flu late in the season or had the vaccine “wear out,” despite getting it as soon as it’s available in July-September. I have had the flu a few times and it’s very nasty. With my bad lungs, it could be life-threatening for me to have a bad case of the flu and leave my lungs worse than they already are!
We have never had to pay for the flu shot for me on private insurance or H or my folks who are on Medicare A+B+private insurance .
I have an appt at my doctor’s office flu shot clinic on the 18th. I usually get it done at my yearly in Sept., but I had to cancel that appt and next available for yearly check up wasn’t until January. So, I made a clinic appt. I prefer having everything done at my doctor’s office instead of CVS etc., so my doctor’s office has all my info.
I always get it in September and just got it the other day as a matter of fact.
Minute Clinic makes appointments. I was in and out in less than 30 minutes.
FWIW, the flu clinic for shots already opened at my daughter’s college.
This seemed a little bit early for our work flu shots, but so be it.
Y’all had me wondering if I was truly remembering having read studies about the best time of day so I googled it. Phew! Memory intact!
Small limited study - at least from this article - but I’m going with it… and from two years ago when I remember discussing it around our science teacher’s lunch table. I didn’t google further, but I still recall some speculation on why morning was better and it likely being due to activity.
The rest of the discussion has been helpful with longevity and the potential for carrier status, etc, so thanks.
Pending work H and I will get ours either tomorrow or Monday, followed by a nice walk near the local independent Pharmacy where Phil has done our shots for a few years now. We pay for our own due to being with Health Share rather than insurance, so going independent suits our personal life. FWIW, I’d rather pay the peanuts for the shots than the higher monthly cost, co pays, and deductibles from health needs insurance requires (at least when one is self employed as H is), so I don’t mind at all.
First confirmed cases have just been reported in my area, so I got mine this morning. Wasn’t particularly painful this time around.
My 85 year old mother was given the “three year flu vaccine” last weekend. Is this the Fluzone high dose some of you are mentioning? How can there be a three year vaccine when we don’t know what the flu strain is for the next three years? I thought they studied the virus each year and prepared the vaccine from that information?
We’ve had our local media already headlining “Doctors Warn You Should Get Your Flu Shot Much Earlier This Year”, " with “… many doctors are urging people to get flu shots by October at the latest. The concern comes after last year’s flu season was so severe.” Bottom line: get it before Halloween. Sidebar: I’m so old, cranky and jaded anymore. Hard to determine commercializing/monetizing fear vs reliability without having a friggin degree in stats. Sidebar off.
That said, we always get a flu shot, and I got mine the other day. Doc said her husband’s work will have them next week, and she will be getting hers next week.
@thumper1 – IDK if this is your second shingles shot, but on the shingles thread I posted my adverse reaction to the first injection. In retrospect, I should not have listened to doc’s advice and gotten same day flu and shingles shot. I should have separated the injections to better correlate any adverse symptoms. Just a non-medical degreed opinion.
Update: After having received both my flu and first dose Shingrex shots yesterday, so far all I have is some localized soreness in my left (shingles) arm, nothing a bit of ibuprofen and an ice pack can’t handle. I hope this is all the reaction I will get.
My understanding is that this has more to do with keeping your arm from getting sore. Similarly, I’ve always heard to get the shot in the arm you are “handed” because that is the arm you will use more.
For those debating whether or not to actually get the shot (or wait until later), please go ahead and get it. I have a child who almost died from the flu - she fell ill the night before her school’s flu shot clinic. The sooner the better! And, as mentioned above, there are already confirmed flu cases in my area as well.
- I suggest you get the flu shot now since you’re around immunocompromised parents. It takes about two weeks to take effect. The one I received this year (I got it two days ago in late afternoon) is quadrivalent and preservative free
- No difference in time of day you get shot but pick an arm you don’t normally write with or sleep on. Lightly rub the area of the shot to avoid stiffness there about 30 min to an hour after receiving shot. I’m totally fine now with my arm that received the shot
- The reason to get it now rather than later is because nobody can accurately predict when the flu will hit your region. I have coworkers who got a very nasty virus and have since passed it to their family members, so something is going around my neck of the woods
- Lastly, the best defense is frequent and thorough handwashing with soap, avoid touching eyes, nose, mouth with your hands and get adequate sleep. Take a good multivitamin and the moment you feel an illness coming on take emergency-C or Airborne
That’s my 2¢ 
Ours are done - this morning - with chores before and a nice walk afterward meaning I’m about 2/3rds toward my 10,000 min step count (that part is hardly unusual by this time of day pending my schedule). The needle is the kind you can barely feel - definitely less painful than a mosquito bite - and there’s absolutely no arm soreness or feeling “off” at this point, but that’s common for my body. Last year it was more painful (the only time that happened), but I figured that was probably due to the exact point it went in - who knows?
@tutumom2001 The study I posted above said that two of the three strains produced more antibodies when the injection was in the morning - the third didn’t matter. However… musing now… I know my dominant arm/hand can take anything while my non dominant arm/hand is a wuss. This goes for injections, donating blood, nerve testing, and even when I got carpal tunnel surgery. I did the latter on my non dominant hand first and it took a good 2-6 weeks to be decent, then back to normal. It was worth it enough that I scheduled my dominant hand expecting the same. By the morning after surgery that one was good enough for basic usage and within a week it was back to normal. It amazed me with the difference. I’m glad I did it in the order I chose or I’d have been frustrated rather than amazed.
My guess is my dominant arm/hand is in better condition - or has been used enough to be deadened to all sorts of basics. Either way, I go with it and let my non-dominant arm be a wuss. Not sure if that is common - or just “me.”
Still - the controlled test in the link said morning was better for antibodies. Add me to those preferring dominant arm though.
I am going to wait a bit longer before getting the flu shot. I am going today for my second shingles shot and I know the nurse will ask if I want the flu shot, but I’m going to decline. I was really sick the day after my last shingles shot so I don’t want to get the flu shot too. If I don’t have a reaction this weekend to the shingles shot then H and I will go to CVS Monday night and get our flu shots. If I do have a reaction then I will wait another week before getting the flu shot.
My brother had his flu shot same time as his shingles shot and regretted it. I agree it makes sense to get one shot at a time and give your body a few days or longer to recover between shots.
Do you mean one of those alternative, usually faith-based systems where you pay a low monthly fee into a big communal pot of money and get reimbursed for all your care from that pot?? I’d love to know how that’s going for you. And what happens if a member gets cancer and needs care that costs >$1 million.