Halloween is past... you can still get a flu shot!

We wanted to make a point about the recommendation that you’ve probably all heard the AAP make that you should get your flu shot by Halloween. We here at PPG are very much in favor of immunization and encourage everyone to get a flu shot yearly. However, we also feel that sometimes these “recommendations”, while well-meaning, sometimes cause more angst than good.

The theory behind the recommendation is that every now and then we get an early flu season, that peaks in November/December rather than January/February, thus getting your flu shot earlier rather than later would protect you in case of an early flu peak. It does not mean that a flu shot received after Halloween is ineffective; on the contrary, most seasons we continue to vaccinate for flu right through December/January.

However, the reality on the ground is that recommendations are sometimes an ideal that can’t fully be reached, though we may try our best. As private practices, we are frustrated every year by the fact that we order our flu shots in the spring, and yet we always receive our shipment after the hospitals and pharmacies, sometimes by as much as a month or more.

Despite this, in the past six weeks since we received our flu shipment, we have administered 4200 flu shots! That is an average of 100 flu shots a day, every day, including weekends! We don’t believe there is another office or pharmacy in Rochester that has given that many flu shots in that little time. So we appreciate your patience if you are still waiting to get yours, we are going as fast as we can!