Flu shots once were primarily for pregnant women and the elderly, but not any more. Hoping to avoid the swine flu outbreak that devastated schools and killed 42 New Jersey residents last flu season, health officials are urging everyone over the age of 6 months to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

“Last year’s experience taught us to expect the unexpected,” said Tom Skinner, spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With 160 million doses available nationally, there shouldn’t be any shortage of the vaccines this year, Skinner said. The H1N1 virus — also known as swine flu — is one of three viruses included in this year’s flu vaccine, so one shot covers all, authorities said. H1N1 claimed 12,270 lives in the United States since April 2009, according to the CDC. In New Jersey, 37 adults and five children died of H1N1 last year, according to state health department spokeswoman Dawn Thomas. Read more in Star Ledger.