When you are ready to get your flu vaccine this year, you have a new practical option: you can ignore the doctors’ office or pharmacy and inoculate yourself. Flurist, a vaccine sprayed their noses to protect people from grave flu symptoms, is now available for anyone in the United States can order online and administer to themselves or others at home.
Flurist, manufactured by Astrazeneca, has been available since 2003. But even if it is relatively easy to administer, it was always necessary to give people to give people. In September 2024, however, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved it for home use without healthcare professional – making it the first flu vaccine that people can give themselves.
Here’s what you need to know.
How does flaccid work work?
The vagueness is the only nasal vaccine approved in the United States that it is administered like two Spritz – one in each nostril – and stimulates antibodies against the flu virus in nasal passages and blood circulation to protect against serious diseases.
It differs from the most popular influenza vaccine option. The blur uses a weakened shape of the flu virus, while the flu vaccine contains an inactivated virus. But the two annual shots help protect themselves from the worst effects of the influenza strain circulates and causes a disease.
Is the vagueness as effective as the flu vaccine?
For most people, the spray and the shot are comparable to protection against the serious symptoms of the flu and hospitalization. The vagueness is approved for children and adults two to 49 years old, as studies show that it is less effective in people aged 50 and over; Their immune systems tend to be lower. For people over 65, health officials have recommended a higher dose flu vaccine to ensure that they receive maximum protection.
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In the end, however, the greatest determinant of the efficiency of any flu vaccine is how well it is well suited to the flu stumps causing a disease during a given season.
How do you vacate yourself?
You can order doses for yourself or for others in your household in Flist.com in a program that the company calls Flist Home. Each request is examined by pharmacists who join Astrazeneca to confirm that you and those you want to immunize are eligible for this type of flu vaccination. Most healthy people aged two to 49 are qualified.
If you are eligible, nasal sprays are shipped to your home, to arrive at a date you specify. This is important, because the vagueness must be held below a certain temperature in order to remain effective.
Once it happens, you can use it immediately or keep it in the refrigerator. Magnire the spray in each of your nostrils – or those of family members – and the one who receives it will be vaccinated for the season.
What are the side effects?
The side effects of the vagueness can differ slightly from those of the influenza vaccine. Although the influenza vaccine can cause redness and pain in the injection site, as well as fever, muscle pain, headache and fatigue, vagueness can cause pseudo-Grippal symptoms, including flowing nose, congestion, sore throat, cough, fever and muscular pain. Indeed, the vagueness is made from weakened forms of the living virus.
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Does the blur cost more?
Yes, blur is generally more than the flu vaccine. But all forms of flu vaccination are covered by insurance, so most people will pay almost the same amount at all pocket costs, according to their insurance scheme.
Will the vagueness increase vaccination rates?
Doctors and public health experts are impatient to see if the new home option for Flist has an effect on vaccination rates and the number of flu in the coming season. Flu vaccination rates have decreased from the pandemic, including in children. During the 2023-2024 flu season, almost 45% of adults received at least one dose of flu vaccine, compared to almost 47% the previous year. There was a similar drop for children: 55% of children from six months to 17 years old were vaccinated, compared to 57.4% the previous year. The convenience of vaccination at home, without having to make an appointment with the doctor or to wait in a pharmacy, could approach some of the obstacles to vaccination, although it will probably have no impact on the growing skepticism of vaccines which contributes to a part of the drop in immunization rates.
“We firmly believe that vaccines play an essential role in public health,” said Elizabeth Bodin, vice-president of marketing, sales and access to the United States for respiratory and immunology in Astrazeneca, during a press briefing on August 14. “Given the reductions in vaccination rates, it is more important than ever that we provide education on the importance of vaccines and decompose barriers with Flist Home.”
