Parents should put flu shots on their to-do list now, "a tuning up for winter," says William Schaffner, president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.  He and a host of medical officials on Wednesday urged Americans, especially pregnant women and children, to get vaccinated.  There's an abundance of flu vaccine available this year, 90 million doses right now and another 80 million to come, "so there's plenty to go around," Schaffner says. "It's never been easier to get vaccinated."  Kids are especially at risk for flu complications. Last flu season, 114 children died from influenza "and half of those were healthy kids" with no pre-existing conditions that put them at higher risk, says Marion Burton, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.  The good news for parents is that a lot of this season's vaccine comes in two kid-friendlier forms. There's plenty of the nasal spray form for children over age 2. And this year new, thinner needles have been distributed for the shot.  And instead of the somewhat confusing lists from previous years of who should get what shot when, this year the message is simple — it's for everyone over 6 months. People don't need to wonder whether they should get the flu shot, Schaffner says. "The answer is 'Yes!'"  Getting vaccinated now will give the vaccine time to reach full effectiveness as flu season gets underway, he says.  "Too often, people wait to get vaccinated, something comes up, they miss the appointment, and then they don't get vaccinated."  And having gotten vaccinated last year isn't adequate protection for this flu season, he says. Because the antibodies created by the vaccine wane over the course of a year, it's important to get vaccinated this year, even if you were vaccinated last year. "You need this year's flu shot to fight this year's flu," he says.  To set an example, Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rolled up his sleeve and got his shot during the news conference.  Right now flu infections in the Us are still at low levels, Frieden says. Flu season typically doesn't peak until Jan or Feb but it's unpredictable. "The starting gates are open."
Families shouldn't put off getting flu shots, CDC says; this year there's enough for everyone over age 6 months, in kid-friendly forms.