If improving your general health and wellness, taking steps to ensure a healthy old age or working to better your community are on your list of New Year’s resolutions for 2026, there’s one cheap, easy and (relatively!) pain-free way to take care of all three at once: ensuring you’ve had your seasonal respiratory vaccines.

Public Health physicians recommend the annual seasonal respiratory vaccines (influenza and COVID-19) for everyone, and they also suggest that those who qualify for the RSV vaccine should get that shot, too. While Nova Scotia’s seasonal immunization campaign starts in October, there’s still time to get your shots, and with online booking, it’s easy to sign up.

Here are three reasons we think that “immunization” should be your word of the year for 2026.

Improve your overall health
No one likes getting sick, and the days of fever, chills and coughing that come with even a mild case of the flu or COVID-19 isn’t anyone’s idea of a good time. Although both illnesses are common, their effects can be severe, even fatal. And getting COVID-19 has been shown to increase people’s risk of developing other health problems, like heart attacks, high blood pressure or diabetes.

Ensuring that you have your vaccines helps your immune system get up to fighting strength – and stay there.

Ensure a healthy old age
Vaccines are an essential part of staying healthy into old age – not just because they prevent specific diseases, but because they also help prevent systemic inflammation that can worsen chronic conditions, increase frailty in older people and reduce independence. If you’re interested in being strong, healthy and independent as you get older, taking steps to protect yourself now makes sense.

Staying current on vaccines – including flu, COVID-19, RSV and shingles –  is just as important for healthy aging as eating well, getting regular exercise, maintaining strong social bonds and challenging your brain.

Protect your community
As last summer’s measles outbreaks demonstrated, immunization plays a big role in protecting vulnerable community members from vaccine-preventable diseases. The more people who are vaccinated, the lower the likelihood of community transmission of communicable diseases and the better protected our most at-risk community members are.

Whether there’s a new baby in your family, you have a loved one living in a long-term care setting or you have a kid (or more!) in school, getting your seasonal vaccines helps protect everyone.

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