Updated Omicron-specific coronavirus boosters are now available for anyone 12 or older that has received at least the primary series of any of the vaccines and received any dose more than two months ago.
You can also simplify things and receive a seasonal influenza vaccine at the same time. It doesn't harm the efficacy of either vaccine. However since the influenza virus mutates so significantly and rapidly, the influenza vaccine tends to wane after 6 months. So ideally you shouldn't get the flu vaccine too early. But receiving the flu vaccine at any time is better than not getting the flu vaccine.
Right now we aren't experiencing much influenza activity, but we do have a lot of circulating coronavirus.
It takes about ~2 weeks for the flu vaccine to reach full effect. Flu season tends to run from October to May peaking between December and February, but the pandemic has led to some unusual seasonal activity. Last season ran unusually late and this season started unusually early in the southern hemisphere.
We had virtually no flu season in 2020-2021 at the height of pandemic mitigation, and the 2021-2022 season was relatively mild. The 2022-2023 flu season may be severe as a result given less population immunity and limited mitigation.
