# Flu Shots **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 26, 2010, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363 "2010-10-26T00:44:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/21 "2010-10-26T04:35:50Z")
All three in my family – me, wife, baby son – got ours as soon as we could. For various reasons we are in certain high risk groups, so we are not taking any chances. Besides, even under normal circumstances the last time I had the flu it was a miserable experience. Why taking the chance of repeating it when the flu shot is easy and free? (Insurance pays for it.) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/22 "2010-10-26T05:50:56Z")
I’m 65 and diabetic. My doctor didn’t even ask me, just gave me the shot. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/23 "2010-10-26T06:25:53Z")
Got my shot on Wednesday, during a routine checkup. I’ve had bad colds, I’ve had pneumonia, I’ve had bronchitis. From what I understand, a case of the flu is worse than all of these put together. So I’d rather get a shot and feel a bit under the weather for a couple of days. ---
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/24 "2010-10-26T06:50:49Z")
My two-year old is considered high risk. Everybody in our house gets flu shots (except the baby, who isn’t six months old yet). My mom and my sister, who visit/babysit often, get them, too. We _do not_ need the flu. Any chance we have of avoiding it, I’m taking. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/25 "2010-10-26T08:39:58Z")
Got mine last week. As I am over 65 it was free (good old NHS!) ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/26 "2010-10-26T10:51:19Z")
Got mine a couple of weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/27 "2010-10-26T10:58:13Z")
I got mine. I wasn’t going to, but as a friend of mine pointed out, there is a pretty big ROI. The flu really knocks you down and can even be dangerous. It is no fun. The shot is low risk, low cost and if it prevents the flu it is well worth it. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/28 "2010-10-26T10:59:21Z")
Getting mine tomorrow at work. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/29 "2010-10-26T12:14:06Z")
Missed the free shots at the mall I work at, but got mine at a clinic just the other day, covered by my insurance. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/30 "2010-10-26T12:22:44Z")
Got free shots at work - I have a propensity for respiratory conditions, might as well play safe. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/31 "2010-10-26T13:21:51Z")
HCW- of course I got it. Free and the practice nurse came into my office so I didn’t even have to leave my desk- score! So far my practice has vaccinated over 500 patients and we’re waiting for another 250 or so to make appointments for their shots. Pretty good for a total list of 2000. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/32 "2010-10-26T13:22:21Z")
They’re free at work, so why not? I work in the lab _testing nasal swabs for influenza_, so I figure I’m in a pretty high risk group for catching it. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/33 "2010-10-26T13:24:12Z")
I also got mine free (at school) which is why I got mine. ---
**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 26, 2010, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/34 "2010-10-26T13:42:29Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > As an otherwise healthy male in my 20s, I will not be getting the flu shot. Being young and healthy doesn’t guarantee immunity to influenza or having a mild case of the flu. The H1N1 flu (which this year’s shot covers) had [a substantial impact on young people](http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=116038): \*"By February of this year, some 59 million people in the United States were hit with the bug, 265,000 of who were hospitalized and 12,000 of whom died, the article stated…The overall infection rate is estimated at 11% and mortality of those infected at 0.5%. “It didn’t have the kind of global impact on mortality we might have seen with a more virulent epidemic but it did have a very substantial impact on health-care resources,” Treanor said. “[Although] the mortality was lower than you would expect in a pandemic, that **mortality did occur very much in younger people so if you look at it in terms of years of life lost, it becomes very significant.** ” **In direct opposition to the seasonal flu, most of the deaths have occurred in people under the age of 65 and notably in children and young adults**. Children under the age of 5, especially those younger than than 12 months, have had the highest hospitalization rates."\* (bolding added) I’ll be getting my annual flu shot as soon as it’s offered to hospital staff. A push is on to get better coverage in health care workers to protect vulnerable patients. The American Academy of Pediatrics recently joined other health organizations in calling for all health care workers to be immunized against the flu. Apart from the ethics involved, who wants to be sick as a dog for a week when a simple shot could spare you the misery? ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/35 "2010-10-26T13:47:54Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > Nope. I’ve never had flu, so there doesn’t seem much point. The first time I got the flu I was a healthy adult in my late 30’s. I’d gleefully toss puppies in a river on camera to never get it again. Getting my shot at work on Friday. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/36 "2010-10-26T14:01:37Z")
I’m doing clinical rotations in nursing school, so it’s required. What it is \*not \*is free. So I went to one of the hospitals I did clinicals at, walked upstairs with my old security badge and explained that I was broke and used to do clinicals there and could they help me out. The dude doing the vaccines shrugged and put me into the computer as a volunteer. Voila! Free flu shot. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/37 "2010-10-26T14:18:00Z")
My employer offers them free of charge, so I already got mine for this year. Last year was the first time I’ve ever gotten one, because I’ve never had the flu. I’m rarely sick at all, but I’m getting older and I finally decided it was foolish not to take the shot. My younger son always gets one because he has mild asthma, and my husband always gets one - although he seems to get the flu about every other year regardless. We still need to get one for my older son. He’s a healthy teenager, but the flu still means missing a week of school, and all that makeup work is a pain. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/38 "2010-10-26T14:26:18Z")
I got mine yesterday. I do not want the flu again! (See current-running flu thread.) You do not want the flu. Get the shot. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/39 "2010-10-26T14:51:53Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > Nope. I’ve never had flu, so there doesn’t seem much point. I’ve never been in an auto accident either. That’s why I never wear a seatbelt. ---
**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 26, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/40 "2010-10-26T14:57:44Z")
I will be getting one. They’re free (OK, covered by health care bucks) in Ontario, and my employer sets up a clinic on-site. Be kinda dumb not to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363.md?page=3)