The Office of Facility Management (AMP) in cooperation with the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) provided several dates in October and November where federal employees could get free flu vaccinations if desired. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommend that flu vaccinations be given by the end of October and early November if possible. However, as long as flu viruses are circulating, it’s not too late to get vaccinated. The months of December and January are not too late to get the shot. While seasonal flu outbreaks can happen as early as October, most of the time flu activity peaks between December and February, and can last as late as May. Since it takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body that protect against flu virus infection, it is best that people get vaccinated in time to be protected before flu viruses begin spreading in their community.

The 2019-2020 vaccine contains 15ug of each of 4 viral strains for the Northern Hemisphere season: A/Idaho/07/2018 (an A/Brisbane/02/2018 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus); A/Indiana/08/2018 (an A Kansas/14/2017 (H3N2)-like virus); B/Iowa/06/2017 (a B/Colorado/06/2017-like virus); B/Singapore/INFTT-16-0610/2016 (a B/Phuket/3073/2013-like virus); The vaccine contains no preservatives. Officials say those at highest risk are children younger than five years old and people over 50 years old. Each year, thousands of people in the United States die from the flu, and many more are hospitalized. Flu vaccine prevents millions of illnesses and flu-related visits to the doctor each year.