# Are you getting a flu shot? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 1, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371 "2016-10-01T16:01:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371/21 "2016-10-01T19:44:03Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > No, never did and never will. I never get sick. Haven’t had a cold in more than ten years. But I did get a yellow fever shot this summer. Ive had about 5 or 6 of those. I used to work on that assumption. I don’t think I’ve ever actually even had the flu (real flu, not throwing up ‘flu’), maybe once. A few years ago I figured that since it was free and the flu apparently sucks, I might as well get it, so I’ve been doing it the last few years. But, yellow fever? I assume you’re either living in or traveling to a country with yellow fever problem. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371/22 "2016-10-01T19:58:10Z")
I went in for my annual checkup and they offered me one there, so yep, all set. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371/23 "2016-10-01T20:06:05Z")
Not yet but I got the pneumonia shot a few weeks ago. I’ll get the flu shot next month. ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371/24 "2016-10-01T20:09:59Z")
I used to be one of those “I’ve never gotten the flu so I don’t need a flu shot” people. Then I got H1N1 six or seven years ago. I have never felt worse. I literally thought I might be dying (and a doctor friend scared the sh!t out of me a few years later when he told me that it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility for a healthy 35 year old. That was a BAD flu year). I’ve gotten my shot every year since. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371/25 "2016-10-01T20:49:23Z")
I’m not. I’m still a couple years shy of the over 50 group where my personal risk starts making the side effects I suffer enough to deal with it. My immune system overreacts to most infections and vaccinations. It’s not as bad as when I was young and testing finally answered why I tended to get sicker than most. That issue’s gotten less severe as I aged but it’s still the reality for me. My body reacts to even a dead virus like it’s a live flu virus most years. 2-3 days with a high chance of feeling like I have a mild to moderate case of the flu gets balanced against the lower chance that I get a strain that the annual vaccine would have protected me against. Since I don’t routinely spend time around people at high risk of death or serious complications from the flu, and I’m not one of those people myself, I skip the flu vaccine. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371/26 "2016-10-01T21:38:14Z")
Yes, same as every year. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371/27 "2016-10-01T21:39:09Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Nope, not in one of the priority groups so I skip it. Bear in mind, though, that very few of us are insulated from “priority” groups such as the elderly, very young, immunosuppressed etc. who would rather not catch influenza from us. These threads are also a good time to remind people that young, healthy adults with good immune systems may be disproportionately affected by flu, suffering severe symptoms and death due to cytokine storm. _“Cytokine storm is now seen as a likely major cause of mortality in the 1918-20 “Spanish flu”—which killed more than 50 million people worldwide—and the H1N1 “swine flu” and H5N1 “bird flu” of recent years. In these epidemics, the patients most likely to die were relatively young adults with apparently strong immune reactions to the infection—whereas ordinary seasonal flu epidemics disproportionately affect the very young and the elderly.”_ [https://www.scripps.edu/news/press/2014/20140227oldstonerosen.html](https://www.scripps.edu/news/press/2014/20140227oldstonerosen.html) ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371/28 "2016-10-01T22:17:09Z")
It’s mandatory where I work, but I would get it anyhow. I had the flu once. It sucked as badly as people say it does. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371/29 "2016-10-01T22:24:33Z")
I’ll get mine in the next week or two. It’s convenient getting it at the grocery store pharmacy and then I buy my groceries. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371/30 "2016-10-01T22:37:23Z")
Got it last Sunday. Our clinic does them a few Sundays each fall, and they are very efficient. In and out of the place in under ten minutes. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371/31 "2016-10-01T22:53:32Z")
I always get one and will again next year. On February 13th, 2014, my sister died from H1N1 swine flu. She didn’t get a shot. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371/32 "2016-10-01T23:01:07Z")
Yes. It’s offered free through my workplace so I get one. I used to never get the flu, so never bothered with shots. When I got the flu for the first time a few years ago, it was scary sick, and because I had never had the flu, I didn’t even realize what was happening. I was wandering around the house in a near delirium… looking for something… wandering… what was I doing?.. I had a moment of lucidity and realized I was sick sick sick and needed to get myself in bed. The flu is an equal opportunity killer. One of my favorite singers, [Trish Keenan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trish_Keenan), founding member of the group Broadcast, died after contracting swine flu while on tour. She was 43. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371/33 "2016-10-01T23:03:02Z")
At my work they set up in the conference room in mid October and give them out for free. Much cheaper for them than paying for time off for everyone who gets sick. I’ll take the kids to get them at the local pharmacy when they have a week off for fall break. My horrible flu story is when I, my husband, and all 4 young kids got a horrible case of the flu on Christmas. Even the little kids felt so bad they didn’t want to open presents. So we all sat around, wrapped up in blankets, sipping tea on Christmas. I felt like death, but I still had to take care of 4 little sick ones. It was a nightmare! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371/34 "2016-10-01T23:12:56Z")
Nope. Don’t do that stuff. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371/35 "2016-10-01T23:29:10Z")
Yep. It came up on my calendar today (I set it for 10/1 every year now), but I didn’t get a chance yet, as I was working. Will do so in the next couple of days. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371/36 "2016-10-01T23:34:30Z")
I will. Free in Ontario, so why not? ETA: And by “free,” you know what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371/37 "2016-10-01T23:52:16Z")
Tuesday. I can’t get it in my arms, so I have to go to a clinic rather than the pharmacy. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371/38 "2016-10-02T00:10:55Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yep. It came up on my calendar today (I set it for 10/1 every year now), but I didn’t get a chance yet, as I was working. Will do so in the next couple of days. Just FYI: [Here is Chicago’s free flu shot schedule for 2016 (pdf).](https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdph/supp_info/influenza/2015-influenza-walk-in-clinic-schedule.html) They are doing an even better job than normal of keeping it secret this year. Absolutely free, no insurance required. Just show them an ID and you’re in and out in minutes. And they use the quadrivalent vaccine – that’s the better kind. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371/39 "2016-10-02T00:20:21Z")
Yes, next week. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2016, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371/40 "2016-10-02T00:41:12Z")
Yep. Already did and took off my Tonka Truck bandage last night. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-getting-a-flu-shot/767371.md?page=3)