• Getting an annual flu vaccine is the best way to protect yourself and your family from flu and serious illness from flu.
• Every year, seasonal flu vaccines are updated to maximize protection against the most common influenza viruses causing illness.
• Flu vaccination has important benefits. It can reduce the severity of symptoms, missed work and school, and missed holiday gatherings due to illness. Most importantly, it can prevent severe disease, hospitalizations, and deaths.
• Every year in the U.S., the flu vaccine prevents millions of illnesses and flu-associated hospital visits. On average, flu vaccines are 40-60% effective at preventing flu-associated doctor visits.

Who SHOULD get the vaccine:

• CDC recommends everyone aged 6 months and older get an annual flu vaccine, ideally before the end of October before flu starts circulating. However, it’s especially important for people at high risk for developing serious complications from flu, including:
• People 65 years and older
• Pregnant people
• Children younger than aged 2 years
• People with chronic medical conditions (i.e., heart, lung, kidney, and liver disease) including obesity, asthma, diabetes or weakened immune systems
• People who live in nursing homes or long - term care facilities
• For those aged 65 years and older – High-dose, recombinant, or adjuvanted flu vaccines are recommended if they are available:
• Fluzone
• Flublok
• Fluad
• Solid organ transplant recipients aged 18 – 64 years, taking immunosuppressive medications may receive a high dose flu vaccine (Fluzone) or an adjuvanted flu vaccine (Fluad).
• Children aged 6 months through 8 years require 2 doses of influenza vaccine administered a minimum of 4 weeks apart if they have never been vaccinated or had received only 1 dose in the past.
• Talk to your doctor to see which flu vaccine is right for you.

Who should NOT get the vaccine:

• Children younger than 6 months of age
• Anyone with a history of severe allergic reaction to any component of the vaccine
• People who are pregnant, children under aged 2 years, and people with certain medical conditions should not receive the nasal spray flu vaccine

There are many places to get the Flu vaccine. If you have insurance, talk to your doctor or check with your local pharmacy to see what vaccines are offered. Most health insurances cover the cost of all recommended vaccines for children and adults.

If you are uninsured or underinsured, there are programs available to help cover the cost of vaccines. Children who are 18 years of age or younger are eligible to receive vaccines at no cost through the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program if they are:

• Eligible for or are enrolled in Medi-Cal
• American Indian or Alaskan Native
• Uninsured (do not have health insurance)
• Underinsured (private health insurance does not cover the full cost of vaccines)

Click to see if your child is eligible to receive VFC vaccines: English | Spanish

Uninsured or underinsured adults can access free or low cost vaccines at select clinics enrolled in the Vaccines for Adults (VFA) program. For more information on who is eligible, read VFA Eligibility Based on Insurance Status. You can use the following resources for more information on locating clinics:

• A list of free and low-cost clinics in Los Angeles County.
• Interactive county map to locate free and low-cost vaccine clinics.
• LACDPH Vaccine Preventable Disease Control Program website for patients and their families to get more information on vaccines.

You can also dial 2-1-1 for a list of free or low cost vaccine clinics. This includes Vaccines for Children (VFC) provider locations that serve Medi-Cal eligible children and uninsured or underinsured adults. Learn more about specific vaccine information for different age groups:

• Vaccines for Infants and Children (LACDPH)
• Vaccines for Adolescents and Teens (LACDPH)
• Vaccines for Adults (LACDPH)

• Flu Overview (CDC)
• Flu Digital Media Toolkit (CDC)
• Flu Webpage (CDPH)
• Viral Respiratory Surveillance for LA County (LAC DPH)
• Flu Promotion Material (EZIZ)
• Paying for Vaccines (LAC DPH)

CDC recommends everyone 6 months and older receive an annual influenza (flu) vaccine.

It’s especially important to vaccinate people at increased risk for severe flu complications. This includes:

• Adults aged ≥65 years
• Children aged <2 years
• Pregnant people
• People with chronic health conditions (heart, lung, kidney, and liver disease)
• People with neurologic and neurodevelopment conditions
• People with metabolic, blood, or endocrine disorders
• People who are obese or have a BMI ≥40
• People younger than aged 19 years on long-term aspirin- or salicylate-containing medications.
• People with a weakened immune system due to disease (such as people with HIV or AIDS, or some cancers such as leukemia) or medications (such as those receiving chemotherapy or radiation treatment for cancer, or persons with chronic conditions requiring chronic corticosteroids or other drugs that suppress the immune system)
• People who have had a stroke
• People with certain disabilities—especially those who may have trouble with muscle function, lung function, or difficulty coughing, swallowing, or clearing fluids from their airways.
• People who live in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities
• People from certain racial and ethnic groups including American Indian/Alaska Native

Children aged 6 months through 8 years may need an additional dose of flu vaccine depending on their previous vaccination history.

CDC preferentially recommends the following flu vaccines for adults aged ≥65 years. However, if none of these 3 preferentially recommended vaccines are available at the time of the visit, administer any age–appropriate flu vaccine instead.

• High – dose Fluzone (Sanofi Pasteur)
• Flublok (Sanofi Pasteur)
• Fluad (Seqirus)

Organ transplant recipients aged 18 – 64 years taking immunosuppressive medications may receive high – dose flu (Fluzone) or adjuvanted inactivated influenza vaccine (Fluad). These vaccines are not preferred over other age-appropriate flu vaccines but are acceptable options for this population.

Flu vaccines are safe and effective in reducing the risk of severe illness, hospitalization, and death from flu. However, they may not always prevent infection. Additional information and vaccine effectiveness studies can be found on CDC’s Seasonal Flu Vaccine Effectiveness Studies webpage.

Live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) can be given to healthy people aged 2 – 49 years.  LAIV is not recommended for some groups, such as people who are pregnant and people with some medical conditions.

A full list of 2024 – 2025 Influenza vaccines can be found here,

Click here for contraindications and precautions to influenza vaccine.

Reporting instructions for influenza can be found here.

Click here for more information on reporting a Vaccine Adverse Event.

Proper vaccine storage and handling practices play an important role. For general recommendations and guidance access the Vaccine Storage and Handling Toolkit.

• Influenza Information for Health Care Providers (CDC)
• ACIP Recommendations 2024 – 2025 (CDC)
• Influenza (LAC DPH)
• Health Officer Order (HOO) (LAC DPH)
• Influenza (CDPH)
• Influenza VIS (Immunize.org)
• LAIV VIS (Immunize.org)
• Influenza Product Guide (CDPH)
• Fight the Flu and COVID-19 Toolkit (CDPH)
• RespWatch (LAC DPH)
• Standing Orders for Adults (Immunize.org)
• Standing Orders for Children and Teens (Immunize.org)