The impending start to respiratory virus season brings with it reminders to get your annual flu vaccine. But while most people are aware that getting an annual flu shot is an important way to protect your health, actually taking the time to make an appointment, drive to your local pharmacy or doctor’s office, and wait to get your shot is, admittedly, a pain. While you might have been able to get away with avoiding the flu vaccine when you were younger, what happens if you skip your annual flu shot in your 60s? Infectious disease doctors don’t recommend finding out for yourself. “I would go ahead and get the flu shot,” stresses Dr. Thomas Russo, MD, professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York. You’ve likely heard this advice before, but why is it so important to get your annual flu shot in your 60s? Here’s the deal, according to scientific data and doctors who treat patients with the flu. ?SIGN UP for Parade’s health newsletter with expert-approved tips, healthy eats, exercises, news & more to help you stay healthy & feel your best self?
The biggest concern with skipping your annual flu shot in your 60s is a higher risk of getting so sick with the flu that you’re hospitalized. A data analysis of the 2023-2024 flu season released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in February found that adults 65 and older who got their annual flu vaccine were up to 51% less likely to visit a doctor because of the flu, and 42% less likely to be hospitalized with flu. Meaning, those who didn’t get their shot had a much higher risk of getting sick enough to see a doctor or even to be hospitalized with the virus. People of any age can die from the flu, but deaths from the virus are largely concentrated in people who are 65 and older. The CDC estimates that between 70 percent and 85 percent of seasonal flu-related deaths happen in people 65 and older.
Related: The Morning Drink That Can Help Lower Your CholesterolWhile much of the data focuses on people 65 and older, Dr. Russo points out that there’s nothing magical about that age. Meaning, you can be in your early 60s and also have this elevated risk. “Biology is on a spectrum, and any given individual is at risk for developing severe disease,” he says. Many older adults have gotten the message on the importance of getting the annual flu vaccine, but the CDC notes that there has been a decline in flu vaccine coverage in older adults. In the 2020 to 2021 flu season, an estimated 75% of adults 65 and up got a flu vaccine. But that dropped to 70% in the 2022-2023 flu season. That’s since dropped again to 67.1%, according to CDC data.
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Why Can You Get Severely Ill With the Flu if You Skip Your Flu Shot?
There are a few reasons for this. “As you get older, you tend to accumulate chronic underlying conditions,” explains Dr. William Schaffner, MD, an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “Flu viruses can take out anybody, but it happens more frequently the older you are or the more underlying conditions you have.”Your immune system also changes as you age, becoming less efficient with time. That can make your immune system slower to respond to an illness like the flu and even draw out the healing process to be longer than it was before, Dr. Schaffner says.
“What the flu vaccine does is it turns a bad infection into a milder one” he adds. “It helps keep you out of the hospital, ICU and the cemetery."
Related: The 6 Most Important Vaccines To Get Right Now if You’re Over 60
It’s crucial to get your annual flu vaccine because the immunity you get from your flu shot wanes over time, and new variants circulate each season, Dr. Russo says.
He recommends getting your flu shot close to Halloween, explaining, “That way, if you do the math, it will get you through the flu season with a reasonable degree of protection."
But while many doctors suggest getting your flu shot by Halloween, Dr. Schaffner says this isn’t a hard date. “It’s just the best time to get a vaccine,” he says. “Try not to push it off much farther than that. A vaccine deferred is usually a vaccine not received.”
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Sources:
Dr. Thomas Russo, MD, professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New YorkDr. William Schaffner, MD, an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of MedicineThis Season's Flu Vaccines Reduced Flu Medical Visits and Hospitalizations Across All Ages. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. February 29, 2024Flu and People 65 and Older. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. September 5, 2024Influenza. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. July 15, 2025Aging Changes In Immunity. U.S. National Library of MedicineHence then, the article about what happens if you skip your annual flu shot in your 60s was published today ( ) and is available on Parade ( Saudi Arabia ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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