Does The Flu Shot Protect Against Swine Flu?

September 1, 2009 -- Question: Does a regular flu shot give me some protection against swine flu?

Answer: Unfortunately, a regular flu shot that is against the seasonal flu that you might get this year, or in the past, will provide little or no protection from swine flu. It's still encouraged that you do get the usual seasonal flu vaccine to protect yourself against those strains, but to be protected against the swine flu, or the novel H1N1 virus, you'll need to receive a special shot that will be available in late October or early November.

You can contact your medical provider to see if they have that shot available or where you might be able to go in your community to get it. The people who should get the swine flu vaccine are a little different group than the people that we usually would suggest to get the influenza vaccine. Particularly, we're emphasizing that pregnant women, those in contact with children under six months of age, those who have children under the age of 5 years and those with children older than 5 years who have chronic medical conditions should be very high priority for getting the vaccine.