WASHINGTON — It’s flu-shot season already, and health authorities for the first time are urging nearly everyone to get vaccinated.
There is even a new high-dose version for people 65 or older.
A record vaccine supply is expected this year — an all-in-one inoculation that now promises protection against the H1N1 swine-flu strain plus two other kinds of influenza. Shipments began so early that drugstores are offering vaccinations amid their back-to-school sales.
But without last year’s scare factor, the question is how many people will heed the new policy for near-universal vaccination.
No more stopping to check whether you’re on a high-risk list: A yearly dose is recommended for virtually everyone except babies younger than 6 months — the shot isn’t approved for tots that young — and people with severe allergies to the eggs used to brew it.
“Influenza is serious, and anyone, including healthy people, can get the flu and spread the flu,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Flu vaccines are the best way to protect yourself and those around you.”
The CDC was moving toward that policy even before last year’s pandemic brought home an inescapable fact: The flu virus doesn’t just kill grandparents and babies and people with weak lungs or hearts, although they’re particularly vulnerable. It also can kill healthy adults and children.
