Flu Vaccine

Stopping the Flu Starts with You

Protect yourself. Protect our community. Get your flu shot today.

Flu season is here and Memorial Hermann is ready to help you and your loved ones stay healthy.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that during the 2023-2024 flu season, over 35 million people got sick with flu, over 16 million people visited a health care provider for flu, over 390,000 people were hospitalized with flu, and over 25,000 people died due to flu illness or related complications. Additionally, 176 flu related deaths in children were reported to CDC; this is the third largest number of deaths reported in children during a seasonal flu epidemic since reporting began in 2004-2005. Consistent with previous flu seasons, adults 65 years and older were hospitalized at the highest rate, followed by children younger than 5 years.

Getting the flu vaccine reduces your chance of getting sick with the flu and decreases the severity of your symptoms if you do contract the illness. The flu vaccine is also effective in reducing hospitalizations and flu-related deaths. Everyone 6 months and older is eligible for a flu vaccine. 

Stopping the flu starts with you. Protect yourself. Protect our community. Get your flu shot today. More information can be found below.

Frequently Asked Questions

People older than 6 months of age can safely receive a flu shot. Both children and adults should get a flu shot to protect themselves from getting sick and from spreading the flu virus to others.

The flu shot is especially important for people in high-risk medical groups. This includes pregnant women, adults over 65 years of age and people with chronic medical conditions. High-risk individuals are more likely to become sicker if they contract the flu virus, and could experience severe complications requiring hospitalization.

There are very few groups of people who should not have a flu shot. If you are allergic to ingredients in the flu vaccine, including gelatin, or certain antibiotics, your healthcare provider may recommend that you not receive a flu shot. Most people with an egg allergy can safely receive a flu shot. If you have an egg allergy and experience only hives after exposure, you can safely receive any age-appropriate flu shot. Talk to your healthcare provider about your particular history.

This year’s flu season has 3 different vaccine options. Your healthcare provider can recommend the option that is best for you.

Yes. Children older than 6 months are eligible to receive the flu shot. It is safe and recommended for children.

Infants younger than 6 months are not eligible to be vaccinated. Parents (including pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers) and caregivers are strongly encouraged to get a flu shot so they do not spread the flu virus to children who are too young to be vaccinated. Infants are more likely to become sicker and face more complications if they contract the flu virus.

Pregnant women should be vaccinated because the flu virus may be harmful to an unborn baby.

The flu vaccine is available at Memorial Hermann locations throughout Greater Houston. We have a large network of physicians and community partners who offer flu vaccinations for you and your family.

You can schedule an appointment with your primary care physician, or you can find a doctor at one of our Memorial Hermann Medical Group clinics.

Vaccines are an easy and effective tool for prevention of illness and disease. Getting vaccinated reduces the likelihood of contracting the virus, and also decreases the severity of illness if you do get sick. We also anticipate increased circulation of both COVID-19 and RSV in coming months. Getting vaccinated is an easy way to protect your health.

Yes. The flu vaccine can keep you from getting sick, keep you out of the hospital and keep you from dying. It can also prevent you from spreading the virus to others who are in high-risk populations and those who are not eligible to be vaccinated.

The vaccine is updated each year, and this year’s vaccine protects against the four flu viruses that are currently circulating through communities.

Each year, the flu vaccine prevents…

  • millions of illnesses and doctor’s visits
  • tens of thousands of hospitalizations
  • thousands of deaths

The flu vaccine can be given at the same time with other vaccines, such as Tdap or Pneumonia vaccines. This is helpful because patients can get what they need in one visit to the pharmacy or doctor’s office. Generally speaking, a waiting period is only required when two live virus vaccines are needed and not given within the same clinical visit. The waiting period in between the two vaccines would be approximately four weeks.

A flu vaccine cannot cause the flu. A vaccine is either made from an inactivated flu virus which means it is not infectious, or it is made from proteins from a flu vaccine virus.

Generally, flu vaccine side effects (if any) are mild and  go away on their own within a few days. According to the CDC, side effects that may occur from a flu shot could include soreness, redness, and/or swelling where the shot was given, headache, fever (low grade), nausea, muscle aches and fatigue.

Featured Flu Articles

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Preparing for Flu Season


A woman holds a tissue to her nose as she sits on the couch.

By taking steps now, you can help prevent serious illness at the height of flu season.

Fast 5: What You Need to Know about the Flu this Year


Children getting flu shot

Pediatrician at Children’s Memorial Hermann Pediatrics answers the top 5 questions families typically ask when it comes to the flu.

Disclaimer: *Because influenza surveillance does not capture all cases of flu that occur in the U.S., CDC provides these estimated ranges to better reflect the larger burden of influenza. These estimates are calculated based on data collected through CDC’s Influenza Hospitalization Surveillance Network (FluSurv-NET) and are preliminary.