Not everyone will receive the same flu vaccine this year.

Manufacturers predict between 135 and 139 million doses of the vaccine will be available this season, but less than 25 percent will be “quadrivalent,” according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

An estimated 30-32 million quadrivalent flu vaccines will be produced this year that, for the first time, will prevent against four different strains of the virus. The remaining 100 million-plus doses will be the traditional, “trivalent” vaccine.

The quadrivalent dose will protect against two influenza A viruses and two B viruses. Traditional (trivalent) doses, however, protect against two influenza A viruses and only one B virus.

The CDC says that neither shot is recommended over the other.

Boston magazine reported this morning that despite not all hospitals or other flu shot-administrating locations having access to the quadrivalent vaccine, its better to get a shot than wait for the quadrivalent shipment.

“It’s more important to receive any vaccine instead of one over the other”, Dr. Thomas Sandora of Boston Children’s Hospital told Boston magazine. “You want to receive your vaccine before the flu season begins, so whatever your pediatrician or vaccine clinic has, just get it.”

Boston Children’s Hospital will be carrying the quadrivalent vaccine this flu season, which is expected to start this month and peak in January or February.

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