New Measures Aim to Boost Vaccine Rates for Flu and Children’s Shots

The Trump administration has announced measures intended to boost childhood vaccination rates that have sagged during the coronavirus pandemic, putting hundreds of thousands at risk of contracting serious and life-threatening diseases.

The Department of Health and Human Services is giving permission to pharmacists nationwide to administer all scheduled shots to children as young as 3, including the flu vaccine, a step that makes immunization more convenient for parents.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday that a high-dose flu shot aimed at better protecting people 65 and older will guard against four strains of the virus this year, rather than three. Because the conventional flu vaccine can be less successful in older people, an enhanced shot to boost their immune system has been offered in recent years and this one is stronger than ever.

Protecting against the impending flu season in the United States is foremost on the minds of public health officials, who worry about the confluence of cases of flu and Covid-19 hitting hospitals this fall and winter. On Wednesday, Massachusetts announced that it will require all students, ranging from 6-month-olds in day care centers to those under 30, to get flu shots by Dec. 31. It is the first state to institute such a sweeping requirement for the shot, which is rarely mandated in the U.S.

The Massachusetts order includes elementary and secondary school students who are currently learning remotely. But it allows exceptions for students with medical and religious exemptions, those who are home-schooled and those in colleges and universities who learn remotely and do not set foot on their campuses.

Usually, public health officials recommend that people get flu shots between the middle of September and the end of October. Because immunity can take up to two weeks, the goal would be to have people fully protected in time for the onset of the holiday season, when travel and indoor gatherings make the risk of infection with the flu virus exponentially more likely. Moreover, because immunity wanes over several months, the hope is that protection could last through early spring, when a final surge of flu can emerge.

People should get only one flu shot in a given annual flu season, public health experts say. For children getting their initial flu vaccine, a booster is usually given about four weeks later.

This year, because restrictions imposed by the pandemic have shuttered workplaces and school health clinics where millions usually get their shots, officials have loosened their timing recommendations.

Although pharmacies nationwide are ramping up their ability to administer the shots, access could still be difficult for many people. In that event, many public health experts say, just get the shot as soon as you reasonably can.