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Happy Monday, readers. I hope you had a wonderful weekend.
As far as broken records go, insisting on getting your flu shot is a pretty important one. And the vaccination effort is especially critical given an “alarmingly fast start” to the 2019-2020 flu season, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The CDC’s latest flu activity map finds high levels of infection in at least a dozen U.S. states and Puerto Rico. (i.e., flu season came early this year). As always, here’s what the agency has to say: “Everyone 6 months of age and older should get an influenza (flu) vaccine every season with rare exception.”
This is one of those issues where even industry leaders I’ve spoken with tend to scoff. Hey, the flu vaccine may be ineffective, so why bother, the thinking goes?
The scientific literature provides the answer. As far as we know, if you don’t have a serious medical reason to not get a flu shot, you should get a flu shot—not necessarily to prevent yourself from getting sick, but to preserve herd immunity and protect those with compromised immune systems, including children and the elderly.
It’s not particularly difficult to protect yourself (and others) either. Many employers provide free health coverage for flu shots, and retail pharmacies often provide these services. Even without insurance or employer coverage, out-of-pocket costs could range anywhere from $35 to $70.
Last year’s flu season was particularly brutal. While this year’s season was late to take off, it’s starting to look pretty bad in terms of severity—and the peak activity is usually between December and February.
Read on for the day’s news.
Sy Mukherjee
sayak.mukherjee@fortune.com
@the_sy_guy
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