The Flu Shot Guide

What you need to know about the flu shot this year (including how much it'll cost you)

Why you should get it:

With fall comes gorgeous leaves, pumpkins, Halloween, and, less happily, the start of the flu season. For the first time this year, the Centers for Disease Control is recommending that everyone older than six months should get the flu shot vaccine, eliminating priority groups. Pat Curtis, public health nurse for the City of St. Louis Department of Health, says that the vaccine this year is expected to be a good match to the virus that's anticipated to hit the area, from a 70 to 90 percent protection rate.

Also new this year, the flu vaccine protects from H1N1, relieving the full-blown pandemonium seen last year with mile-long waiting lines. Curtis adds that the vaccine should be effective for a full nine months, but she still recommends the usual procedures for preventing communicable disease, such as covering your cough, washing your hands, and practicing social distancing techniques.

Where you should get it:

Curtis highly recommends getting the vaccine from a primary care provider and encourages city residents to have a medical home in the area, but if you're looking for a quick fix, here are few places you can get your shot, all for less than $30 (and one for free):
 

Your health provider
Cost: Depends on your co-pay

Walgreens (multiple locations)
Cost: $29.99, insurance accepted

CVS (multiple locations)
Cost: $29.95, insurance accepted

Shop 'n Save
Cost: $26.99, insurance accepted

Target (multiple locations)
Cost: $24, insurance accepted

Walmart (multiple locations)
Cost: $24, insurance accepted

Barnes-Jewish Hospital Free Flu Shot Clinics for anyone more than six months old:

Sunday, November 7: 
10 a.m.–1 p.m., 
Delta Sigma Theta Fortitude Foundation, 
3858 Washington