Top Takeaways
- Continue to recommend annual flu vaccination for everyone age 6 months and older, ideally as soon as flu vaccine stock is available.
- Preferentially use a high-dose or adjuvanted flu vaccine for patients 65 and older, when available.
- FluMist will be available for self-administration starting this year, but will still need to occur under the supervision of a healthcare professional.
Patients will look to you for guidance on 2026-2027 flu vaccines.
Continue to recommend annual influenza vaccination for everyone 6 months and up...know what’s new...and be ready to answer common questions.
Which flu vaccine is “best”? Be aware that all influenza vaccines will be trivalent again...with updates to both A strains and the B strain.
Select a product based on evidence-based recs, provincial recommendations, etc.
For patients age 65 and up, continue to give a high-dose (Fluzone High-Dose) or adjuvanted flu vaccine (Fluad)...if available.
Use ANY age-appropriate injectable flu vaccine for most patients under age 65.
For children under 9 years who’ve never received a flu vaccine, continue to recommend that they return for a second dose, at least 4 weeks later, to help build immunity.
Consider live intranasal flu vaccine (FluMist) as an option for healthy, NONpregnant patients age 2 through 59.
Be aware of changes for FluMist. Starting this year, patients can purchase FluMist from select pharmacies and prescriber’s offices for SELF-administration...or administration by a caregiver for those 2 to 17 years.
Patients can check flumistcanada.ca to find a pharmacy to purchase FluMist...but explain that self-administration will still need to occur under the supervision of a healthcare professional.
When is the right time for flu vaccination? Vaccinate as soon as stock is available, ideally in late September or October...and continue as long as flu is circulating.
Remind patients that it’s best to be vaccinated BEFORE flu activity becomes widespread...since it takes about 2 weeks for the vaccine to kick in.
Point out flu vaccine offers protection for at least 5 to 6 months. Don’t give a flu “booster”...regardless of when patients are immunized.
How effective are flu vaccines? Educate that flu vaccine effectiveness often falls between 40%-60%.
Emphasize that even when flu vaccines aren’t perfectly matched to the circulating strains, they still reduce flu severity and the risk of serious outcomes. For example, last season’s vaccines reduced the risk of medically-attended flu-related illness by about 40%.
What other vaccines can be given at the same time? Explain that all needed vaccines can usually be administered at the same visit. Ask about pneumococcal, RSV, shingles, Tdap, etc...to help get patients updated.
Use different arms if possible...or separate the injection sites by at least 1 inch...to reduce the chance of local reactions overlapping.
Use our Flu Vaccines for 2026-27 chart to sort through products. And get our resource, Communicating About Flu Vaccination, for answers to FAQs about immunizing patients who are pregnant, have an egg allergy, etc.
- Health Canada. An Advisory Committee Statement (ACS) National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI). Statement on seasonal influenza vaccines for 2026–2027. May 2026. https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2026/aspc-phac/HP37-45-2026-eng.pdf (Accessed August 11, 2026).
- BC Centre for Disease Control. Canadian Sentinel Practitioner Surveillance Network (SPSN) influenza vaccine effectiveness estimates % (95% CI), 2004-05 to 2025-26 seasons. February 10, 2026. https://www.bccdc.ca/resource-gallery/Documents/Statistics%20and%20Research/Publications/Epid/Influenza%20and%20Respiratory/SPSN_Combined_VE_Table_Chart_10Feb2026.pdf (Accessed August 11, 2026).
- Separovic L, Sabaiduc S, Zhan Y, et al. Interim 2025/26 influenza vaccine effectiveness estimates with immuno-epidemiological considerations for A(H3N2) subclade K protection, Canada, January 2026. Euro Surveill. 2026 Feb;31(5):2600068.
- Leroux-Roels I, Huang G, Ferguson M, et al; Fluent Trial Investigators. Efficacy and Safety of an mRNA Seasonal Influenza Vaccine in Adults. N Engl J Med. 2026 May 7;394(18):1803-1813.
- Azziz-Baumgartner E, Budd A, Lee JS, et al. Influenza Activity and Estimated Vaccine Effectiveness During the 2025-2026 Influenza Season. JAMA Netw Open. 2026 Jun 1;9(6):e2618581.
- Immunize.org. Ask the Experts: Influenza. January 9, 2026. https://www.immunize.org/ask-experts/topic/influenza/ (Accessed August 7, 2026).
Canadian Pharmacist's Letter. September 2026, No. 420925