If you’re looking for a flu shot, you’re in luck.

King County health officials say it will be easier than ever this flu season to get vaccinated, since the antidote will be available earlier than usual and in larger amounts.

Every year, thousands of people in the county get sick from seasonal influenza. Vaccination is the best way to prevent the risk of getting sick and to lessen the severity of illness, according to the Seattle-King County Public Health Department.

“Getting a flu shot protects you, your family and your community against a highly contagious illness that causes over 30,000 deaths nationally every year,” said Dr. David Fleming, the department’s director. The shots also help people cut down the number of days they miss school or work, not to mention visits to the doctor “and antibiotic prescriptions,” he added.

Vaccine this year should be plentiful, Fleming said. It’s already available at many doctors’ offices and elsewhere, such as drugstores and pharmacies.

Some healthcare providers and pharmacies may also have FluMist, the live attenuated vaccine. Instead of being injected, a small amount of FluMist is sprayed into each nostril. It’s licensed for healthy people 2 to 49 years old.

Information about where to get a flu vaccine, and the costs, is available from the Health Department at www.metrokc.gov/health/immunization/fluseason and (206) 296-4949.

Here’s what else health officials say you should know for the annual flu fight:

• This year, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expanded its recommendations about who should be vaccinated to include children six months to 18 years old. The youngest children have high rates of serious influenza infection, and all kids can carry the virus or get sick and then pass the illness to family members.

• Influenza, unlike the common cold, has fast-moving symptoms, beginning with two to seven days of fever, headache, muscle aches, extreme fatigue, runny nose and sore throat, and a cough that may last seven days or more. Flu can also be a risk factor for serious bacterial pneumonia.

• Other high-risk people for complications from the flu include pregnant women, 50-year-olds and up, and occupants of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. Officials recommend that people who live with or care for those at high risk should be vaccinated, too.

• The federal and state-funded Vaccines for Children program subsidizes the cost of children’s vaccine at most healthcare clinics.

• Healthy habits can limit the spread of flu and other contagious illnesses. Cover coughs and sneezes, wash hands often, avoid close contact with sick people, and stay home from work, school and other public places when ill.