It’s that point of yr when the leaves are turning golden, there’s a chill within the air and the specter of respiratory viruses like Covid-19, influenza or RSV looms throughout the nation.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects the 2025-26 fall and winter respiratory illness season to have an identical variety of peak hospitalizations due to Covid-19, flu and respiratory syncytial virus as there have been final season.
But there are some steps you may take to cut back your threat of getting significantly in poor health with any of these circulating viruses this yr – and vaccination performs a key position.
“One question or comment I get all the time from my own patients is, ‘Dr. Ren, I got the flu vaccine last year, or I got the Covid vaccine last year, but I still got Covid, or I still got the flu. What gives?’” mentioned Dr. Mike Ren, an assistant professor of family and community medicine on the Baylor College of Medicine.
“What I tell them is, if I get the flu shot and someone with the flu sneezes on me and I’m in direct contact, I may still get sick, but it would be a much lighter version of illness,” he mentioned. “Vaccines are not just disease prevention, but it’s to prevent you from getting a severe form of the disease that sends you to the hospital or worse. Flu every year and Covid every year still cause significant mortality in the country.”
The CDC estimates that about 1 million folks have been hospitalized with the flu final season, and there have been up to 130,000 flu deaths, based mostly on preliminary data from October 2024 via May 2025. Similar CDC estimates recommend that from October 2024 via September 2025, there have been nearly 540,000 Covid-19 hospitalizations and up to 63,000 Covid-19 deaths.
Here’s what to know about getting this season’s Covid-19, flu and RSV vaccinations.
The CDC says folks 6 months and older – together with pregnant folks – ought to seek the advice of a well being care supplier to get an up to date Covid-19 vaccine this season. It’s a shift away from the broader push in earlier years for most individuals to get a Covid-19 shot.
“The difference this year is that there’s not an explicit recommendation by the federal government to get the booster,” mentioned Dr. Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
“This fall, the CDC has not explicitly recommended the Covid-19 vaccine but has made it available to everybody 6 months and older in a process called shared-decision making, which means that people are supposed to talk to a health care provider about the risks and benefits,” he mentioned.
Types of health care providers might embrace folks like physicians, nurse practitioners, pharmacists and doctor assistants.
There are three kinds of Covid-19 vaccines accessible within the US: Pfizer for ages 5 and older, Moderna for six months and older, and Novavax for 12 and older. Pfizer and Moderna’s photographs use mRNA know-how, and Novavax’s model is a protein-based vaccine.
This year’s vaccines have been up to date to goal coronavirus strains circulating extra lately, and they’re accessible at most pharmacies, some docs places of work and sure public well being departments.
“Many pharmaceutical places like your Walgreens or CVS should carry it,” mentioned Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, pulmonary and significant care drugs doctor at Johns Hopkins and a spokesperson with the American Lung Association, who’s creator of the guide “Medicine for the Greater Good.”
Before the CDC finalized the brand new advice this yr, entry to Covid-19 photographs had differed from state to state as pharmacies and suppliers navigated new federal vaccine insurance policies. CVS, which had beforehand restricted entry to Covid-19 photographs in some locations, mentioned final week that it was “updating our systems to be able to offer the updated COVID-19 vaccines to patients nationwide” and that “prescriptions from outside prescribers will no longer be required in any states.”
For individuals who might have questions about the place to discover up to date Covid-19 vaccines of their space or how to get their kids vaccinated, Galiatsatos steered directing questions to their native metropolis or county well being division or discovering a big educational medical heart of their space the place they could give you the chance to obtain the vaccine.
“And what we usually say is to get the updated vaccine that usually comes out in the fall, get it once it’s available, and then talk with your doctor if you should consider getting boosted in about six months,” Galiatsatos mentioned.
Dr. Sarah Dupont, a household drugs doctor at Emory Healthcare and assistant professor at Emory University School of Medicine, recommends getting the Covid shot in October or early November.
“At least a few weeks before Thanksgiving, to be sure you are protected over the holidays. If you have had a COVID-19 infection recently, however, you probably want to delay your booster as you already have a boost in immunity,” Dupont mentioned in an electronic mail.
For most eligible folks with insurance coverage, vaccinations could also be lined, however “a COVID booster at a retail pharmacy is about $220 without insurance,” Dupont added.
The nation’s largest commerce affiliation for well being insurers mentioned its members – which cowl greater than 200 million Americans – indicated that the brand new CDC suggestions wouldn’t have an effect on policyholders’ protection via the tip of 2026.
AHIP, previously America’s Health Insurance Plans, mentioned in a press release in September that its members would proceed to cowl all immunizations that the CDC’s advisory committee really useful as of September 1 for gratis to sufferers. This consists of the up to date Covid-19 vaccine.
Last year’s up to date Covid-19 vaccines have been discovered to be about 39% efficient in opposition to Covid-19 hospitalizations and about 64% in opposition to Covid-19 deaths, in accordance to a examine of US veterans printed Wednesday within the New England Journal of Medicine.
“The Covid-19 vaccines do a better job at preventing severe disease than they do preventing mild infection, and so people at higher risk of severe disease benefit the most from the boosters,” Barouch mentioned.
Can you get a Covid vaccine and flu shot on the identical time?
The Covid-19 vaccines could be given similtaneously a seasonal flu shot, if folks choose to get each without delay.
“There’s no recommendations against it other than just personal preference,” Ren mentioned.
“With a lot of the vaccines, a lot of people may say they feel a little bit of fatigue,” he mentioned of a number of the uncomfortable side effects. “So if you’re getting multiple shots all at the same time, that effect could kind of compound.”
Most folks 6 months and older should get a flu vaccine each season, in accordance to the CDC.
“For flu, there is no change from prior years in terms of guidelines,” Barouch mentioned. “And according to the CDC, the annual seasonal flu vaccine is recommended universally for everybody 6 months and older.”
Most folks want just one dose of the flu vaccine every year. But some kids who’re getting the vaccine for the primary time ought to get two doses, spaced 4 weeks aside.
It received’t be clear how efficient this season’s flu vaccine is till after the season has ended. The CDC estimates that the vaccine was about 42% to 56% efficient in adults throughout the 2024-25 respiratory virus season.
“Flu has a seasonality. That’s why we update it every year,” Galiatsatos mentioned. “I usually recommend trying to get the vaccine at least two weeks before Thanksgiving, just so you can build up the immunity, because flu really kicks in in November and December and sometimes lingers into January, February, March.”
September and October are thought of typically good times to get the flu vaccine, in accordance to the CDC, and ideally eligible folks needs to be vaccinated by the tip of October.
“So get the flu vaccine now, if you haven’t already,” Galiatsatos mentioned.
Some public well being specialists describe this as “flu before boo,” an effort to encourage folks to get their flu photographs by Halloween.
“It is still okay to get it later than that (you will still get protection),” Dupont wrote within the electronic mail. “But it is better to get it before the winter holidays to avoid spreading illness among your loved ones.”
Most folks might give you the chance to entry flu vaccines at their native pharmacy, docs workplace and even via sure public well being departments.
But for the primary time, many individuals within the United States who need to shield themselves in opposition to the flu can order a nasal spray vaccine to give themselves at home.
AstraZeneca’s FluMist, the one nasal spray flu vaccine within the US that has been authorised by the US Food and Drug Administration, is now accessible for house supply in 34 states beneath the model title FluMist Home. It could be self-administered by adults beneath 50 and to kids as younger as 2 with the assistance of a mum or dad or caregiver.
FluMist has been available on the market for greater than twenty years, receiving preliminary FDA approval in 2003. In September 2024, the FDA gave the inexperienced gentle for the nasal spray vaccine to be self-administered, however it wasn’t prepared to attain the general public in time for final respiratory virus season. However, the product is obtainable for this season.
For eligible sufferers, the flu shot needs to be lined by nearly all insurance coverage applications, however with out insurance coverage, “a flu shot at a retail pharmacy may be as low as $30 for a regular dose and up to $130 for a high dose (which is recommended for those over 65),” Dupont mentioned.
The at-home nasal spray flu vaccine possibility is roofed by most business insurance coverage, with an $8.99 charge for delivery and dealing with. The on-line ordering platform features a transient medical screening questionnaire to be reviewed by a licensed health-care supplier earlier than prescribing the vaccine.
RSV vaccines are really useful for adults 75 and older in addition to these ages 50 to 74 who’re at increased risk of severe illness, in accordance to the CDC. It’s estimated that one dose of RSV vaccine provides protection against disease in older adults for at the very least two years.
Separately, to shield infants from extreme RSV, immunizations could be given to moms throughout being pregnant or to infants after delivery as an antibody shot.
“If you’re someone who is pregnant, between 32 and 36 weeks, consider getting it – because when you get that RSV vaccine, you’re going to pass those antibodies to your newborn, and they’ll be protected,” Galiatsatos mentioned.
The RSV vaccine is obtainable for eligible adults at any time, however one of the best time to get it’s usually late summer time and early fall, according to the CDC.
For moms, the RSV vaccine is usually available from September via January, in accordance to the CDC. For infants, the antibody shot is often really useful from October via March.
“They should start getting it now,” Dupont mentioned. “It is just a one time shot currently.”
For eligible folks with insurance coverage, the RSV vaccine could also be lined.
Without insurance coverage, “an RSV vaccine may cost $350,” Dupont mentioned. “But there are patient assistance programs that can significantly lower the price if you are paying out of pocket.”
Outside of respiratory viruses, different seasonal vaccines might assist cut back the danger of getting sick this fall and winter, Galiatsatos mentioned.
Pneumococcal vaccines assist shield in opposition to bacterial pneumococcal infections – together with pneumonia – in older adults, infants and sure youthful adults with underlying well being situations.
“In addition to vaccination, people should stay home when they’re sick to avoid spreading diseases, and if people want to protect themselves further, then they can avoid crowded indoor locations during the wintertime,” Barouch mentioned. “People also always have the option to wear a mask if they wish to do so, both to protect themselves and to protect others.”
Flu, Covid-19 and RSV can unfold via respiratory droplets, Ren mentioned.
“Good hand hygiene – so frequent handwashing and hand sanitizing – is really important because if somebody might have sneezed and then touched a door handle or touched that carton of milk that you were going to grab, as gross as it sounds, that’s how illnesses can spread,” Ren mentioned.
It’s additionally vital to cowl your mouth once you cough, “get plenty of sleep, eat colorful fruits and vegetables and/or consider a multivitamin to keep your immune system up,” Dupont mentioned.