Latest news with #FluMist
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Health
- Time of India
Scared of needles? AstraZeneca launches FluMist Home nasal spray delivery
Are you one of those people whose whole world starts buzzing and spinning as soon as they see a needle? Well, your trypanophobia (phobia of needles) won't stand in the way of your getting a flu shot to protect your health this fall. How? AstraZeneca now allows Americans to skip the doctor's office and pharmacy lines for their flu vaccine, with no needle required. No phlebotomy, no lines, and way less 'omg-this-is-gonna-hurt.' It's FDA-approved, easy as sniff-and-spray, and ready to deliver – straight to your door. With the launch of FluMist Home, a program that delivers the flu nasal spray directly to your door, you can now get your flu shot sitting on the couch in your PJs. FluMist Home: The game-changer for couch-cruisers What's new this flu season? It's AstraZeneca's game-changer, called FluMist Home: the first-ever at-home nasal spray flu vaccine you can order online. FluMist is a nasal spray influenza vaccine that's been FDA-approved since 2003 and works just as well as the traditional flu shot in preventing infection and serious illness. Previously, you had to get it from a healthcare provider. But with FluMist Home, that has changed. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Beyond Text Generation: An AI Tool That Helps You Write Better Grammarly Install Now Undo Dr. Ravi Jhaveri, pediatric infectious disease specialist, told the NY Post, 'This will be the first time someone will be able to give themselves a flu vaccine right in their own home,' adding, 'While that may seem intimidating, this is an incredible milestone to make vaccines more accessible.' How safe is it to use at home To gain FDA permission, AstraZeneca conducted a study requiring users to self-administer, or give, to a child using provided instructions. The result: a 100% success rate. Each kit contains: Clear written instructions Instructional videos Access to a toll-free pharmacist call center A pharmacist chat feature for live support How FluMist works Visit and complete a medical screening questionnaire. If approved, you'll choose a delivery date. The vaccine arrives in an insulated package with cooling packs to keep it safe. A licensed provider reviews your info and verifies insurance. Shipping fee is around $8.99 (insurance usually covers the vaccine itself). Without insurance, GoodRx coupons can reduce costs to around $30. Your nasal spray arrives in chilled packaging. Keep it refrigerated if you're waiting. How to administer: Sniff one spritz per nostril, as per instructions. It comes with how-to videos, written directions, and pharmacist support just a click or call away. Dispose of the used sprayer using the prepaid envelope. Easy peasy! AstraZeneca even reports a 100% success rate in self-administration studies. The service is available in 34 states, with plans to expand further. If your state isn't included yet, flu spray is still available at clinics and pharmacies. Who can use FluMist Home? Adults aged 18 to 49 can self-administer. Parents or caregivers can give the spray to children aged 2 to 17. 'Giving the vaccine at home, to yourself or your children, makes protection more accessible, convenient, and better aligned with people's busy lives,' said Jhaveri to the NY Post. He added, 'If your little one fears needles, your doctor's appointments are hard to get, or you juggle work and school schedules, this might be the perfect choice this season.' However, it is not suitable for those over 50, pregnant, immunocompromised, or with certain conditions like asthma, egg allergy, aspirin use, or GBS history. You're advised to check with your doctor in case of worries. Why flu shots still matter The 2024-2025 flu season was one of the worst in 15 years, with over 47 million cases, 610,000 hospitalizations, and 27,000 deaths, including 216 children. Vaccination rates are slipping: among children under 18, fewer than half were vaccinated, down from 62.4% pre-pandemic. Jhaveri emphasized, 'I strongly encourage flu vaccination, whether you've done it before or not, it remains one of the most effective ways to prevent flu,' adding, 'Children face serious risks, like pneumonia or hospitalization, and 150-200 children die each season, many of whom were otherwise healthy.' He concluded, 'I recommend getting vaccinated by the end of October, before flu season ramps up. It's vital to protect yourself, your family, and your community. '
Newsweek
13 hours ago
- Health
- Newsweek
No Time for the Doctor? You Can Give Yourself a Flu Vaccine
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. AstraZeneca's FluMist nasal spray, which was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2003, is now available through prescription for at-home use, a statement issued by the company said Friday. Newsweek has reached out to the American Medical Association (AMA) for comment on the vaccine on Saturday. Why It Matters While it's not a new vaccine, FluMist Home nasal spray widens the availability to those who may not previously had access. The at-home option also removes the need for a doctor to administer the vaccine, which public health experts say could increase vaccination uptake by addressing convenience and needle-avoidance barriers. This comes ahead of the 2025-26 influenza season in hopes to prevent the unusually high caseload seen the previous season. What To Know FluMist Home uses the same live attenuated intranasal formulation that is available in clinical settings like doctors' offices. The product is approved for children as young as 2 years old and up to adults aged 49. People who are pregnant, immunocompromised, and minors who take aspirin are advised not to take the vaccine, according to the company. Based on data from October 1, 2024, through May 17, 2025, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that there were up to 82 million flu related cases, 37 million medical visits, 1.3 million hospitalizations and 130,000 deaths across the U.S. during the 2024-25 flu season. The CDC says the best way to prevent the flu is to get a vaccine, however it's not available to everyone. Only 34 states, about 80 percent of the eligible population, have the option for the at-home vaccine, according to AstraZeneca's Friday statement. "There are a number of states where FluMist Home is unavailable due to local pharmacy laws," the statement said. "Our aim is to have this service available in all 48 contiguous states in future seasons." People over the age of 18 can go online, fill out a medical questionnaire and have the vaccine sent to them for self-administration. A sign telling customers that they can get a flu shot in a Walgreens store is seen on September 16, 2014, in Indianapolis. A sign telling customers that they can get a flu shot in a Walgreens store is seen on September 16, 2014, in Indianapolis. AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File What People Are Saying Joris Silon, US Country President and Senior Vice President, AstraZeneca, said in the statement issued Friday: "The launch of FluMist Home is a transformational moment in the evolution of influenza protection, bringing a simple and accessible option directly into the hands of consumers. FluMist Home reflects the growing importance of direct-to-consumer offerings and underscores our commitment to continuous innovation, making it easier for people to get vaccinated and stay protected." Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children's Hospital, told CNN Friday: "We learned during COVID how home diagnostic testing became widely accepted and that turned out to be a great public health intervention. Given the low uptake of seasonal flu vaccine in America, I think it is worth exploring some novel approaches." What Happens Next? It is unclear how many people will order the vaccine, but the outcomes of availability will be monitored by public health officials to see if the number of vaccinated patients, the number of cases, and even deaths change amid the newly available home vaccine. AstraZeneca urges users to report any side effects from taking the FluMist Home.
Forbes
20 hours ago
- Health
- Forbes
You May Now Give Yourself A Flu Vaccine At Home With FluMist Home
These days, there are more things that you can do at home by yourself that you couldn't do before such as sit in a business meeting without wearing any pants. Well, here's another thing that previously wasn't possible at home but now is: vaccinate yourself against the flu. Yep, if you are in one of the 34 eligible states in the U.S., you can now get the FluMist Home vaccine from AstraZeneca delivered to right to your home. And in case you missed what FluMist is, it's a nasal spray vaccine. So rather than sticking yourself with a needle, you can simply squirt the vaccine up your nose. FluMist Home Is The Home Version Of FluMist Vaccine The vaccine itself isn't new. The FluMist nasal spray vaccine received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval back in 2003 to be used for those from five to 49 years of age. The FDA added kids from two through five years of age to this approval in 2007. But until last year, like all other flu vaccines, you had to get some kind of qualified healthcare worker to give you the vaccine. That all changed in September 2024 when the FDA approved FluMist to be the first self-administer-able flu vaccine out there. Not coincidentally, it's also the only nasal spray flu vaccine out there. It's probably a whole lot easier and safer for folks to squirt something up their noses rather than stick their arms with needles. Not surprisingly, AstraZeneca wasn't ready to go with the home version of FluMist, known as FluMist Home, last flu season, which was a particularly nasty one, as I covered in Forbes tat the time. But the company is ready for this upcoming flu season. Starting this fall, if you are an adult under 50 or a parent of a child who's older than two you can order the vaccine via an online platform. Now you will have to complete a medical screening questionnaire that will be reviewed by a licensed healthcare professional before the vaccines gets prescribed to you or your tykes. Most types of commercial insurance should cover this vaccine. But you may have to fork out $8.99 for shipping and handling. Now, if you are an adult 50 years or older or a kid from six months up to two years of age and saying WTF, as in 'what the FluMist,' for me, you aren't eligible for this vaccine. That's because the vaccine uses live (but weakened) versions of the flu virus, which is different from the other flu vaccines that use dead or inactivated versions of the flu virus. The live, weakened versions of the flu virus may generate a stronger immune response and thus stronger protection than the dead versions. However, if you've got a weaker immune systems such as when you get older than 50 or are younger than two years of age, you want to be careful about getting a live virus, even if it is weakened, injected into you. FluMist Home Could Help Increase Flu Vaccination Rates The flu vaccine typically offers anywhere from 30% to 60% protection against the flu, depending on how well the flu strains in the flu vaccine match the circulating strains that year. Since it takes about six months to produce the flu vaccine, the selection of the strains for the vaccine need to occur well in advance of the flu season. That's why sometimes it's a good match, sometimes things are way off and often it's somewhere in between. As with many other vaccines against infectious diseases, how well you are protected against the flu does depend on how many other people around you got vaccinated as well. Last flu season, an estimated 46.7% of adults and 49.2% of children got vaccinated against the flu. That's compared to 49.2% and 53.4% for the flu season prior in 2023-2024, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. These close-to-but-not-quite-half have been rather typical each flu season recently, as I have written in Forbes previously. Those numbers ain't great. You may have heard of the concept of herd immunity, which I have written about before in Forbes. While the flu vaccine will help protect the individuals who got it, ideally you want the vaccination coverage to be significantly higher than the herd immunity threshold for flu, which is around 50%. When the vaccination coverage is well above the herd immunity threshold, the virus begins to run out of susceptible people to infect, which in turn slows the spread of the flu virus in the population. It's not completely clear why over the half the U.S. population did not get the flu vaccine last flu season. For some, it might have been a matter of convenience. They may have not gotten vaccinated simply because they didn't find the time to take time off from work to go to a clinic or pharmacy. For such folks, having something like FluMist Home available may increase their chances of getting vaccinated.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
FluMist available for at-home delivery: What to know
FluMist, a nasal spray flu vaccine, is now available for at-home delivery in 34 states. Experts urge timely vaccination as the U.S. prepares for flu season. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Needle-phobic? FluMist nasal spray vaccine available for use at home
More children died from the flu this past season than any year outside of the swine flu pandemic in 2009. Most of them were unvaccinated. That's why some doctors are hoping that the first nasal flu vaccine available for use at home can improve vaccination rates among people, especially children, who are afraid of needles. AstraZeneca's FluMist Home, which was approved last fall, is now available with a prescription for children ages 2 and over, and adults up to age 49. A 2019 review from researchers at the University of Michigan found the majority of children and up to 30% of young adults are afraid of needles. Dr. Zachary Hoy, board-certified pediatric infectious disease specialist at Pediatrix Medical Group in Nashville, Tennessee, said many children are scared because they aren't old enough to understand what vaccines are and why they are important. 'Most of the time, the anxiety and worry before the shot is scarier than the actual shot,' Hoy said. How does FluMist Home work? The vaccine was first approved in 2003 to be given in a doctor's office. However, after the 2009 swine flu pandemic introduced the new H1N1 strain, several studies found the nasal spray was less effective than other flu vaccines. This prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to recommend against using the nasal spray in 2016. At the time, the CDC said the nasal spray accounted for one-third of all flu vaccines given to children. In response, FluMist's manufacturers reformulated it to more closely match circulating strains, including H1N1, and the nasal spray returned in 2018. Like injectable flu vaccines, FluMist is updated each season based on recommendations from global health officials. 'FluMist's efficacy is comparable to injectable flu vaccines and is a safe and effective needle-free option for flu protection,' AstraZeneca spokesperson Andrew Leone said. Experts say it's too early to tell how bad the upcoming flu season will be. Typically, flu vaccines are 40% and 60% effective in preventing severe illness, and FluMist Home should be equally protective. The doses for the 2026-2027 season contain three virus strains: an A/H1N1 strain, an A/H3N2 strain and a B strain from the B/Victoria lineage, according to the drugmaker. The FluMist Home vaccine contains a weakened form of a live virus to stimulate the immune system. Pregnant women or people with compromised immune systems are advised to talk with their doctor before using it. Does insurance cover it? FluMist Home is available only online. People ordering the nasal spray will need to complete a medical screening questionnaire at that is reviewed by a health care professional, according to the drugmaker. FluMist Home's online pharmacy will then collect the insurance information and bill the health plan directly. A temperature monitor on the packaging will verify that the vaccine has been maintained at the appropriate temperature during shipping and delivery. Green means it's safe to use. Red means it's not. Christina Aungst, senior pharmacy editor at GoodRx, estimates people with insurance will likely only have to pay an $8.99 shipping fee for the nasal spray. 'Currently, if you don't have insurance, FluMist is only available in a health care setting,' AstraZeneca's Leone said. 'We hope to provide a cash pay option for FluMist Home in future seasons.' When FluMist is given in a health care office or clinic, most insurance plans — including Medicare and Medicaid — will cover it. Dr. Scott Roberts, associate medical director of infection prevention at Yale School of Medicine, worries people may not administer the nasal spray vaccine properly without a doctor's supervision. 'What if they have a runny nose? How far back do they need to spray in the nose? What if they store it incorrectly in their house?' Roberts asked. Dr. Kristina Bryant, pediatric infectious diseases physician at Norton Children's in Louisville, Kentucky, and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases, said the bottom line is that all the available flu vaccines offer comparable protection. 'The most important thing to know is that vaccines only work if they are actually administered,' Bryant said. 'Hopefully, the availability of a vaccine that can be administered in the home will make it easier for some people to be protected against flu.' This article was originally published on Solve the daily Crossword
