- Hi, I'm Susan Taylor with Scripps Health
from San Diego, California.
Okay, it is time for your annual flu shots.
Although we've all been focused on the COVID-19 pandemic,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
between five and 20% of the population
gets the flu every year.
Hundreds of thousands of people end up in the hospital
and some 36,000 people die every year
from flu related illnesses.
So it's important to protect yourself
and get that annual flu shot.
Joining us to talk about that is Dr. Siu Ming Geary.
She is an internal medicine doctor
with Scripps Clinic in Rancho Bernardo, California.
Thank you so much for being with us.
- Susan, thank you for having me.
- So who should get the flu shot starting at what age?
- The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends
that everyone age six months and older, get the flu vaccine.
And it's important for protecting not only against getting
the flu, but getting complications from the flu
and also helps to prevent people from having
to take time off from work and from school.
And as you mentioned, the complications of the flu
can lead to hospitalizations as well as death.
So, if you can get the flu shot,
now it's time to go get it.
- And when should you get it
to give you the maximum benefit?
Cause you don't want to get it too early.
- Definitely the best time to get the flu vaccine
is before there's food in the community.
And so typically the recommendations
about at least two weeks in advance.
And so getting it in July and August,
when sometimes we start seeing it in some of the pharmacies
it's too early, because if you actually get it too early,
it may not last.
Particularly for our patients who are older,
it may not last the entire flu season.
So the ideal time is September and October timeframe.
That being said,
it's still a good idea to get the flu vaccine,
even after October is passed.
So getting it during the flu season,
whether it's November or December even January
provided that there's still flu circulating
in the community, it's still a good time to get it.
- And then how long does it take you to build up immunity
to the flu after you've had the shot?
- It takes on average about two weeks
for the body to actually have developed immunity
against the flu virus after you've had it injection.
So again, that's why you wanna get it
before there's flu in the community.
- But getting the flu shot
doesn't protect you from getting COVID-19, correct?
- That's correct.
The flu vaccine is very good at protecting you
against the flu virus.
Now, there are multiple strains of the flu virus,
but the vaccines typically are protective against the three
or four strains identified in the community at that time
that you're most likely to see circulating,
but the coronavirus,
the COVID-19 virus is a different virus.
And so this will not protect you against that.
However, the symptoms of the flu
and the symptoms of COVID-19 are very similar.
The complications from the flu
and complications from COVID also overlap.
And so if you have protection against the flu,
that will keep you out of the doctor's office,
it will keep you out of the hospitals
where you may actually see more people with COVID-19.
- And what are the side effects of the flu vaccine?
Side effects.
Now, serious side effects are very uncommon
but some people may have achiness or soreness,
a little swelling at the area of the flu vaccine injection.
Some people may get a very mild headache,
even fever, or sometimes nausea, vomiting.
- And who's most susceptible to getting the flu?
- I think anybody is susceptible to getting the flu,
but what we need to look at is
who is at high risk of complications,
if they get the flu
and that's really important to understand.
So people who are under the age of five
or over the age of 65 are at higher risk of complications.
People who are pregnant or have chronic medical conditions,
for example, like diabetes or asthma heart disease.
The studies show that if you have these conditions,
then you can actually have more high risk of death
or illness such as asthma exacerbation,
more likely to have cardiac events,
if you don't get vaccinated
and you get the flu during the season.
In addition, people who are pregnant,
not only is important to get the flu vaccine
during your pregnancy,
but studies also show that after you've given birth.
So for all the moms out there
who are gonna be delivering during flu season,
there is protection for your baby
for the first few months after they're born.
Very important, since we don't have a flu vaccine,
that's approved for infants up to the age of six months.
So a very good reason to get the flu
for all the new parents.
- And what is the high dose flu vaccine
for folks over the age of 65?
- So the high dose vaccine studies do show that people
who are older than 65 may not build as much
of an immune response with a regular flu vaccine.
So the high dose,
that's what it really sounds like.
It has higher dose of antigen to stimulate that response
in people who need it and that's older than 65.
very safe to take.
- There's all this talk this year about
there being a Twin-Demic
with the flu season arriving in the midst of the COVID.
- Good question.
So obviously a lot of attention is being focused on COVID-19
and we know that during flu season,
we will see a lot of flu as well.
What does that mean?
Well, I mentioned earlier that the risk factors for COVID
and risk factors for flu are very similar.
People who are in close quarters, coughing, sneezing,
in close contact.
So when we see flu season coming up
and we also are expecting that the same risk factors
for COVID or overlapping,
we may see double the amount of people who are sick,
you know, many more people in the clinics,
many more people in the hospitals and of course,
many more people in our ICU.
So that's, I think that's what they're referring to,
when they say the twin-demic.
- And where can you get your flu shot at Scripps?
- We have flu vaccines available now.
You can get them at any of your primary care
doctor's offices.
If you have an appointment,
they will offer you a vaccine
immediately at that appointment.
If you don't have an appointment coming up,
you can schedule at any one of our multiple locations
throughout San Diego County.
We will have flu vaccine clinics,
where you can actually either come into the office
or they will be drive up, drive through clinics available.
Again, make an appointment.
You can actually wear a mask,
come roll down your window, get your vaccine and drive off.
We're really excited about that.
- So you never have to get out of your car?
- Correct. Correct.
And we also have our health express clinics
that are also available by appointment only for flu vaccine.
So similar to previous years,
they're also available at multiple locations
through San Diego
- And people should feel safe coming into Scripps
because of all of the COVID precautions
that are in place, correct?
- Absolutely. Your health is very important to us.
We have a lot of safety measures in place to keep you safe.
That include mandatory face mask, you know,
special cleaning protocols, physical distancing.
So when you come in,
you will be very safe to come in and get your healthcare.
And I should add, that's not just for the flu vaccine.
It's actually for all of your healthcare.
Lots of measures in place.
And your health is the utmost important
to us here at Scripps.
- Any final thoughts Doctor?
- Just get your flu vaccine.
It's available, it's fairly simple
and Scripps is here for you.
We help you to give it to you.
- And it's safe to come and get the vaccine.
- Absolutely.
- All right, Doctor thanks so much for being with us,
we really appreciate it.
- Thank you for having me.
- If you want more information on getting the flu vaccine,
just click on the link
or go to scripps.org/videos.
Want more critical information about your health?
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and follow us on social media at Scripps Health.
I'm Susan Taylor.
Thanks so much for joining us.
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