When’s the Perfect Time to Get a Flu Shot?

For about 60 years, health authorities in the United States have been championing a routine for at least some sector of the public: a yearly flu shot. That recommendation now applies to every American over the age of six months, and for many of us, flu vaccines have become a fixture of fall.

The logic of that timeline seems solid enough. A shot in the autumn preps the body for each winter’s circulating viral strains. But years into researching flu immunity, experts have yet to reach a consensus on the optimal time to receive the vaccine—or even the number of injections that should be doled out.

Each year, a new flu shot recipe in the U.S. sometime around July or August, and according to the CDC the best time for most people to show up for an injection is : preferably no sooner than September, ideally no later than the end of October. Many health-care systems require their employees to get the shot in, then mention that fact in a forum frequented by a bunch of experts, , might rapidly hear that they’ve made a terrible, terrible choice.