Find a Flu Shot — Before It’s Too Late

You should have gotten a flu shot by now. If you haven’t — and it’s because you don’t know where to go — we can give you a hand with that.

The flu season is just getting started, but it takes about two weeks for a flu shot to take effect, so you’re running out of time.

Who should get a flu shot? Nearly everyone, unless you’re a baby less than 6 months old, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC does say those “with severe, life-threatening allergies to flu vaccine or any ingredient in the vaccine” should obviously abstain. Those ingredients might include gelatin or antibiotics. The CDC also warns that anyone with an egg allergy should discuss that with their doctor before getting a flu shot.

Egg allergies or not, Illinoisans aren’t too great when it comes to getting a flu shot. The CDC ranks Illinois 40th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia when it comes to the percentage of residents older than 6 months who have gotten a flu shot. Illinois is estimated to have 42.9 percent of flu shot coverage. The national average is 45.6. South Dakotans top the list at 56.6 percent. Last-place Nevada only has a 36.8 percent estimate.

If you’re afraid a flu shot might give you the flu, don’t be. The CDC says the vaccine does not cause the illness. But even though you can’t get the actual flu, you can still get kind of sick — the CDC conceded that side effects in children can include runny nose, wheezing, headache, vomiting, muscle aches and fever. Adults may get a runny nose, headache, sore throat or cough. But you should still get a flu shot. Here’s where you can go for one:

And not only can we tell you where to find a flu shot, we can show you where all the sick people are. This “Sickweather” map scans social media for illness indicators — things “like ‘I'm sick,’ ‘the doc says I have bronchitis’ and ‘My son has chicken pox’” — and plots out where they live. So you can avoid them.

Take a look for where the sick are here.

So get your flu shot, unless you’re a little baby. And stay away from those sick people.