Despite a decades-long public healthy campaign, just over 40% of Americans get flu shots — a number that hasn’t budged in years. But research suggests that if twice as many people get them annually, the flu could be all but eradicated.

Doctors and scientists say an 80% vaccination rate is the magic number for flu immunizations, that if reached could significantly reduce outbreaks – or even wipe out the virus entirely. Studies have shown that when the flu vaccination rate in a community hits or surpasses that threshold, flu cases have dropped off sharply or disappeared altogether.

That hope for more widespread vaccinations is driving National Influenza Vaccination Week, which begins Monday and is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control. “When you get high levels of immunity, there’s less transmission because the bug can’t find the next susceptible person,” says the CDC’s Dr. Carolyn Bridges.

Health professionals, as a result, are increasingly encouraging people—especially the young and healthy—to get flu shots not just for the individual benefit of being less likely to get sick, but as an altruistic gesture to benefit society as a whole. See Investing in a better flu shot

“If enough people get vaccinated, you also protect the community,” says William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist and chair of the Vanderbilt Medical Center’s department of preventive medicine in Nashville, Tenn. “I always like to put in a very personal way: You don’t want to bring influenza home to your grandparents or to a young child.”

The 80% effect is noteworthy: Studies of nursing home residents have shown that reaching that vaccination rate threshold significantly decreases flu outbreaks even in such a susceptible population. “If it were higher than that, it has even more of an effect,” Schaffner says.

Am I sick enough to stay at home?

But health experts have struggled to get the message across to consumers, whose vaccination rates remain static—even those doctors consider to be at highest risk for serious complications from the flu. The vaccination rate among high-risk adults, such as those with heart disease, has hovered around 40% for years, according to Bridges. “The community protection is something that’s a little harder to persuade people of,” Schaffner says.

And while doctors see demand for flu shots screech to a halt after Thanksgiving, they still recommend that consumers get them now if they have not already, as flu season doesn’t peak until February.

For needle-shy consumers who still have not gotten the vaccines, experts say there are new products aiding the flu-shot movement, such as shots that hurt less or nasal spray options that don’t involve a prick at all. (There is also a more potent flu shot for people 65 and older, to address concerns that they weren’t feeling the benefit of the regular vaccine.)

Plus, supporters say it’s now easier and more convenient than in years past to get a flu shot, which are now offered by drugstores and many employers (14% of adults receive the flu vaccine at work, while a fifth get it at the pharmacy).

If those marketing messages aren’t enough, some flu shot advocates may resort to scare tactics: “If we have lots of people who are unvaccinated, that should put a chill through our spine because they’re hazardous not just to ourselves but to their neighbors,” Schaffner says.