Plenty of flu vaccine is ready

After years of shortages and confusion, there will be plenty of flu vaccine to go around this fall: as many as 132 million doses, more than the nation has ever produced.

The ample supply has the government urging vaccinations not just for people at highest risk of dying from influenza, but also for anyone who wants to avoid a week of aching misery.

But new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that only a fraction of those who need flu shots the most actually get them, including just one in five babies and toddlers.

Shots aren’t the only option. The government has ruled that it is safe for younger children than ever before to try a nasal-spray vaccine called FluMist. Once an option only for people ages 5 to 49, FluMist now can be used by children as young as 2.