National Influenza Vaccination Week is December 5–9

Content From: HIV.govPublished: December 08, 20222 min read

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Each year, HIV.gov recognizes National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW) to help raise awareness about the importance of flu vaccination for the HIV community. Observed December 5–9 this year, NIVW is a nationwide call to action to encourage everyone 6 months and older to get their annual flu shot, especially young children and others at higher risk. The more people vaccinated against flu, the more people are protected from flu.

Vaccination is particularly important for people who are at higher risk of developing serious flu complications, including young children. Millions of children get sick with flu every year, and thousands will be hospitalized. Since flu viruses are constantly changing and protection from vaccination decreases over time, getting a flu vaccine every year is the best way to prevent flu. Flu vaccines are the only vaccines that protect against flu and are proven to reduce the risk of flu illness, hospitalization, and death.

Vaccination in December or later is still beneficial, particularly as flu activity is high and continues to increase across the country. Vaccines are particularly important for people who are most vulnerable to developing serious flu complications, including people with HIV—especially those with very low CD4 counts or who are not on treatment—and other health conditions. In fact, in past flu seasons, 9 out of 10 adults hospitalized for flu had at least one underlying medical condition.

Many Vaccine Options

For the 2022–2023 season, CDC recommends use of any licensed, age-appropriate flu vaccine. These include:

There are many flu vaccine options, and CDC does not recommend any one vaccine over another. Different vaccines are approved for different groups of people.

Getting a flu vaccine is the best way for everyone to protect themselves and their loved ones from flu. Join the nationwide call to action with resources, messages, and activities from CDC’s Digital Media Toolkit and join the conversation online with #FightFlu.