She also called on doctors and clinics to immunize anyone else who asks.

"Supply is not a restriction," Gerberding said. After supplies were halved two years ago due to problems at a key manufacturing plant, officials expect there to be at least 100 million doses of the flu vaccine available this year, the most ever. Vaccine makers began shipping doses last month, and expect to have shipped three-quarters of this year's supply by the end of the month, Gerberding said.

The flu sends 200,000 Americans to the hospital each year, killing 36,000. The virus is transmitted from person to person, usually through coughing and sneezing. Many children, in particular, spread the flu.

"Now is the time for parents to call their child's pediatrician and schedule an appointment" for a flu vaccination, said Dr. Julia A. McMillan, a Johns Hopkins professor who also works with the American Academy of Pediatrics.

This is the first flu season in which the government has recommended that young children 2 to 5 years old get immunized against the virus; previously, the recommendation was for children ages 6 months to 23 months.

"Kids of all ages are at risk of influenza, but typically, the younger the child the more likely the child is to have severe disease and wind up in the hospital," said Dr. Douglas Short, a pediatrician with Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando.

Short said very young children are as likely as the elderly to need hospital care for flu-related problems such as dehydration and pneumonia, although children do not die as frequently as seniors.

Dr. Mark B. McClellan, who runs Medicare, said it covers the entire cost for beneficiaries 65 and older. Vaccines are available by injection or nasal spray.

The federal health officials also recommended Americans pair their yearly immunization against the flu with a one-time vaccination against the pneumococcal virus, which prevents pneumonia. Most insurers, Medicare and Medicaid cover that vaccination, said William G. Plested III, president of the American Medical Association.

The officials spoke at a news conference designed to raise public awareness of the benefits from vaccination and quell common myths, such as the misperceptions that the flu vaccine can actually cause the flu and that it can't provide any help if taken after November or December.

Dr. Susan Rehm of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio released the results of a survey that found half of those questioned mistakenly think people can catch influenza from a flu shot.

Vaccinated people can still pick up other respiratory viruses that circulate during winter. When they start having flu-like symptoms, they may incorrectly blame the flu shot.

It's "a myth — a very persistent myth, nonetheless," said Dr. William Schaffner with the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.) contributed to this report.

HMSA 2006 COMMUNITY FLU SHOT CLINICS: O'AHU AND NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

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