Vaccines are available now to help prevent severe cases of the flu, COVID-19 and RSV.

Rather than trying to time your vaccines perfectly, it’s best to schedule a visit with your doctor or visit a pharmacy and get your vaccines soon.

“A common misconception when it comes to timing your flu shot is to wait until later in the season,” said Dr. Michelle Barron, senior medical director of infection prevention and control at UCHealth. “Many people question if they should wait and see what will happen during the season, whether it will be an early season versus late season, but I encourage people not to wait and see.”

Barron, one of the top infectious disease experts in Colorado, is urging people to get their flu vaccines as soon as possible.

“Every year, we try to guess when the flu is going to hit and when we should get our vaccines. Some people wait to get their flu shot until right before Thanksgiving in case they’ll be traveling over the holidays,” said Barron, UCHealth’s senior medical director of infection prevention and control.

Her advice: “Don’t wait. Get your flu shot now.

“The flu virus can make you very sick, and it can be debilitating. It affects healthy people and certainly the most vulnerable, young children and older adults. So, think about getting your flu shot to not only protect yourself, but protect those around you,” Barron said.

Barron reminds people that it takes about two weeks after you get your flu shot for the vaccine to fully go into effect.

Getting your flu shot relatively early this year — in September or October — is the best way to brace yourself for the season when respiratory illnesses typically ramp up.

“The flu vaccine will protect you for four to six months. If you’re a little off on your timing, that’s fine. Getting your shot early is fine. If you get your shot too late, it just means you’re more at risk of getting the flu,” said Barron, who is also a professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine on the Anschutz Medical Campus.

We consulted with Barron about how the flu season played out in Australia and what could happen during the fall and winter months in the U.S. She also answered some frequently asked questions about the flu and how COVID-19 may affect the flu season.

When will we know if we’re going to have a bad flu season this year?

“We won’t really know until it hits us,” Barron said. “I would love for as many people as possible to stay healthy this year. If we get enough people vaccinated and we’re smart, maybe we can do that. But we won’t know exactly what happens with the flu until it starts to spread.”

How has COVID-19 affected flu seasons in recent years?

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically reduced cases of the flu around the world in the early years. Now we’re settling into more typical patterns.

For instance, cases of whooping cough have risen dramatically this year over last, signalling a return to more typical pre-pandemic patterns. During the earliest days of the pandemic, stay-at-home measures and interventions like masking and social distancing, reduced cases of COVID-19 and also prevented the spread of the flu.

Flu cases could also be on the rise again. Vaccines are the best way to prevent severe illness, hospitalization and death. (View data related to flu infections, hospitalizations and deaths.)

Barron compares getting vaccines to ramping up for a race.

“If you’re training for a marathon, it’s time to start running again. You can’t rest on your laurels, like your fitness in the past. It’s time to log some miles and get your immune system up and ready again because the flu is coming,” Barron said.

Can I get both a COVID-19 vaccine and a flu vaccine at the same time?

Yes. It’s perfectly safe to get both shots at the same time, Barron said. And that’s really convenient. Many people will want to do exactly that in September and October of this year. If everyone who is eligible gets both a new flu and COVID-19 shot this fall, we could dramatically reduce severe cases of both flu and COVID-19 this fall and winter, Barron said.

Getting an annual flu and COVID vaccine has become the new normal. And someday, there might be combined vaccines to prevent both.

When will flu shots be available for the 2024 flu season?

They are available now. Check with your doctor’s office or your employer or a pharmacy near you, and book an appointment soon.

When will the new COVID-19 booster shots be available?

The new 2024-2025 COVID-19 booster shot is available now.

What’s the best timing if I’m going to get my flu shot?

Barron advises people to get their flu shots as soon as possible, and definitely by October.

“Get it when you can. Don’t try to time it based on, ‘Oh, I’ll wait, before my big trip.’ Convenience is a big thing. That’s probably more important than anything you’ll gain by trying to time it at a certain time,” Barron said.

Does the flu vaccine prevent me from getting sick or rather, from severe illness, hospitalization and death?

No vaccine is perfect. And flu vaccines are especially complex, Barron said. That’s because vaccine makers have to guess in advance which flu strains will be circulating later that year. Then they create a vaccine that they hope will fight the prevailing flu strains.

During some years, the flu vaccine works better than in other years.

“In an optimal year, you get up to about 80% effectiveness. In other years, the match may be closer to 30%,” Barron said.

But even when the annual flu shot is not a perfect match for the prevailaing flu variants, getting the flu vaccine can dramatically reduce hospitalizations and deaths from the flu.

“It keeps you out of the hospital and it keeps you from dying,” Barron said.

That’s why her advice is quite simple now: “Get your flu vaccine.”

“Please protect yourselves,” she said. “For the past few years, we’ve been focused on COVID, COVID, COVID. But, we also need to focus on the flu. Get your vaccine so you can stay healthy.”

There’s a myth that the flu shot can give you the flu. What’s the truth about the flu shot and getting the flu?

“The flu shot does not give you the flu. The shot does not contain live virus. As with any vaccine, there can be side effects, but those are normal,” Barron said. “If you get the flu after you get the flu shot, you were going to get it anyway. That’s just a case of bad timing and bad luck. The best way to avoid getting the flu is to get your flu shot as early as possible.”

Is there a special type of flu shot for older people or those who need an extra boost to their immune system?

“Yes. There’s a high dose flu shot for people over age 65. It’s meant to give you an extra boost to your immune system,” Barron said.

When you schedule your flu shot with your medical provider, if you are older, you should automatically get the specially-formulated shot for older adults. But, of course, it’s wise to ask about which type of flu shot you are getting.