Flu Shots

Our Outpatient Flu Vaccine Clinic opened September 1st for anyone who has had at least 1 flu vaccine in the past year and no acute illness at the time of the visit. Outpatient flu vaccine appointments are scheduled with our medical assistants rather than the physician. For most insurance companies, we are not required to collect a copay for this visit and we do not bill this as an office visit unless, in the process of screening patients prior to getting the flu vaccine, an issue is identified that needs to be addressed by your physician.

September-October is the best time for children to receive their flu shot.

Patients who are eligible for outpatient flu vaccines are:

• patients who have already received a flu vaccine in a previous year
• patients who do NOT wish to see the doctor for any other reason during their visit
• well patients without any underlying infectious symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose

Please call our office or submit an appointment request.

Appointments

At this appointment, your child will be given the flu vaccine by a member of our medical assistant staff, as ordered by their physician. Your child’s primary care physician will have reviewed your child’s records to be sure they qualify for the flu vaccine prior to the appointment. The flu vaccine questionnaire needs to be filled out prior to check-in in order to receive the flu vaccine.

Our outpatient flu clinic is only for the administration of the flu vaccine. Our staff cannot address other issues at the Outpatient Flu Clinic. If you have other questions or issues, please call us or e-mail us to schedule an appointment with your physician.

You may schedule your child’s appointment through our portal, our online appointment request system, or by calling our office at 510-792-4373.

Payment

The “Flu vaccine only” visit does not require a copay. However, if any other problems are addressed at this visit, this visit will require a copay as required by your insurance policy.

If you have new insurance, please let us know ahead of time. Otherwise, you will be responsible for the cost of the flu vaccine.

For the 2021-22 flu season, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all children 6 months of age and older be immunized with any flu vaccine appropriate for age. There is no change in recommendations from the 2020-21 season.

FluMist, the live attenuated nasal flu vaccine, was not recommended for use for infants and children for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 flu seasons because of its lack of effectiveness, discovered after the 2016 flu season. The manufacturer of FluMist, MedImmune, therefore changed to a new strain for the 2018 Flumist vaccine that they thought would be more effective. In February 2018, the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices reviewed the MedImmune data on the vaccine’s effectiveness and voted to reintroduce FluMist as an option for the 2018-’19 season.

For the 2018-’19 season, the AAP recommended the flu shot (IIV, inactivated influenza vaccine) as the primary choice and the live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV, Flumist) for children who would not otherwise receive a vaccine. After reviewing U.K. effectiveness data for the reformulated LAIV, the AAP did not express a preference between vaccines for the 2019-20 season or 2020-21 season, and it will not express a preference for the 2021-22 season.

For more information, read this article on the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) site: AAP flu guidance the same as last season