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Three Vaccines Seniors Should Consider Getting This Fall
Which vaccines are recommended for Medicare seniors this flu season?
Dear Just Turned,
Senior-Specific Flu Shots These FDA-approved vaccines provide extra protection beyond what a standard flu shot does, which is important for older adults who have weaker immune defenses and have a greater risk of developing dangerous flu complications compared with younger, healthy adults. The three senior-specific options include the:
There isn't enough evidence yet to indicate whether one of these three vaccines provides superior protection over the other two for seniors. As for side effects, you should know that the Fluzone High-Dose and Fluad vaccines can cause more of the mild side effects that can occur with a standard-dose flu shot, like pain or tenderness where you got the shot, muscle aches, headache or fatigue. While the side effects of Flublok tend to be a little less frequent. All flu vaccines are covered 100 percent by Medicare Part B as long as your doctor, health clinic or pharmacy agrees not to charge you more than Medicare pays.
New RSV Vaccines These vaccines, recommended by the CDC, will help protect older and immunocompromised adults from respiratory illness, which is responsible for 6,000 to 10,000 deaths and at least 60,000 hospitalizations each year in seniors 65 and older. The new RSV vaccines are covered by Medicare (Part D) prescription drug plans.
Updated Covid Booster The updated Covid vaccine targets the XBB omicron subvariants that are some of the most dominate coronavirus variants circulating in the U.S. It will also provide protection against the EG.5 variant (Eris), which is closely related to the XBB. Covid booster shots are covered 100 percent by Medicare Part B.
When and Where You can find all three vaccines at most pharmacies, medical clinics and health departments, or you can do a search at Vaccines.gov. |