As this year’s flu season begins, annual flu vaccinations are once available for the public to protect themselves against illness. Influenza, more commonly known as the flu, is a respiratory illness that can range in severity depending on the variant and the person who gets sick. Symptoms of the flu can also range in intensity but mostly consist of fever, cough, sore throat, and muscle or body aches. Because of the flu’s ability to spread and be deadly with high-risk people, getting the flu shot is important. High-risk people that may experience complications from the flu include people over the age of 65, pregnant people, children under the age of five years old, and people with pre-existing illnesses such as asthma and heart disease. Although the shot does not prevent one from getting the flu, it does lessen the seriousness of the symptoms to help prevent deaths and long-term illness.
The flu level is considered low in New Jersey this year and there is a lower number of cases and outbreaks compared to last year at this time. The typical flu season starts at the beginning of October and the new flu shots are made prior to this date by the World Health Organization (WHO). Compared to last year’s vaccine, the added component in this season’s vaccine was the egg-based A/Victoria/4897/2022 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus and the recombinant-based A/Wisconsin/67/2022 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus. Also, the most frequent variant that is reported is A(H1N1)pdm 09, which is why the vaccine was altered in these ways. This vaccine has shown to be quite effective so far with zero reported pediatric deaths and only two reported outbreaks.
There are many places to get the vaccine—including your local pharmacy—but there are other options to consider. Stevens offers the flu vaccine through the Student Health Services for free if you have Aetna insurance through the school. If you have separate insurance, you have to pay a $20 fee for the vaccine but you are able to use Duckbills. Another option is CVS pharmacy which offers the flu vaccine, among others, for free with most insurance! They also give a coupon for $5 off a $20 purchase after the vaccine. Walgreens, and many other chain pharmacies, offer free vaccines as well! If you get the vaccine through a clinic or pharmacy other than Stevens’ Students Health Services, they ask if you could fill out a short survey afterwards so that the school has an accurate prediction of the number of students that are vaccinated. Get vaccinated and help protect the Stevens community from the flu!
