For the first time, Americans can get their seasonal flu vaccine at home.
Starting Friday, eligible adults in 34 states can order the FluMist Home - a nasal spray - online ahead of the upcoming flu season, European drugmaker AstraZeneca announced, calling it a “transformational moment in the evolution of influenza protection.”
FluMist was previously only available at pharmacies or doctors' offices. Now, interested people can go to www.FluMist.com to order the sprays, potentially saving time spent at a clinic or drug store.
Once received, the vaccine should be stored in the refrigerator until it is used. Then, people between the ages of 18 and 49 years old can self-administer the vaccine. FluMist Home can be given to children and teens between the ages of two and 17 years old. A full dose is one spray in each nostril.
FluMist may not prevent infection in everyone who takes it, but it works similarly to vaccines for measles and chickenpox. It contains weakened versions of viruses that trigger the immune system in the nose and throat, teaching it to build up immunity without causing infection.
In rare cases, FluMist may cause serious side effects, including allergic reactions. But the most common side effects are a runny or stuffy nose, a sore throat and a fever of over 100 degrees.
Some people should not take FluMist, including those with severe allergies to eggs, the vaccine’s ingredients, or other flu vaccines, and kids who take aspirin or medicines containing aspirin. Children should also not take aspirin for four weeks after they get FluMist, unless told to do so by a healthcare provider.
The spray, which was initially approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2003 and was approved for at-home use without a healthcare professional last September, should be free for people with insurance, though there is an $8.99 shipping and processing fee.
AstraZeneca said it hopes that all of the lower 48 states will have access to the spray in future flu seasons, although when that may be is unclear.
The announcement comes on the heels of the worst flu season in 15 years, fueled by a cold winter, the spread of H5N1 bird flu, Covid, and other respiratory illnesses, and declining vaccine rates.
Falling vaccination was “a major cause of the surge,” Dr. Elizabeth Mack, the head of the pediatric critical care unit at the Medical University of South Carolina’s Children’s Health, told National Geographic.
“As influenza vaccination rates decline, especially among younger populations, this first-of-its-kind, at-home, needle-free option offers a critical opportunity to help make protection more accessible, convenient, and better aligned with the realities and current preferences of people’s lives,” Dr. Ravi Jhaveri, the division head of infectious diseases at Northwestern University School of Medicine, said of FluMist Home, in a statement shared by AstraZeneca.
