For millions of people every season, flu causes symptoms like fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle aches, fatigue, and miserable days spent in bed. Even more seriously, influenza results in hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths each year.

Luckily, there are vaccines that can help to prevent the flu. How well a flu vaccine works varies from year to year, but the benefits of vaccination are well documented. Flu vaccine can help reduce the severity of illness, decrease the number of doctor’s visits, and reduce the number of days of work or school missed due to illness.

The CDC recommends an annual flu vaccine for everyone 6 months old and older. This is especially true for people at high risk of serious flu complications; including young children, pregnant women, people with certain chronic health conditions like asthma, diabetes, heart or lung disease, and people aged 65 years and older. There are a variety of flu vaccines available. Any flu vaccine is a good vaccine, but vaccines won’t work if you don’t get vaccinated!

Flu vaccines are offered at many locations across the state. To help you find your flu vaccine, check out the Flu Vaccine Finder.