# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/41 "2010-10-26T15:08:15Z")
I’m getting mine through work tomorrow, this weekend I’m taking my son and mom to get theirs. Both my son and myself have asthma, mom had cancer, so we all fall into the higher risk category. Still possible to catch it, but let’s mitigate what we can shall we? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/42 "2010-10-26T15:11:58Z")
I got mine last week - free thru my employer. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/43 "2010-10-26T15:15:40Z")
There are a hell of a lot of immune suppressed people who aren’t protected, so at least I can break the chain for them. Plus last year I had H1N1 which was no fun. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/44 "2010-10-26T15:24:26Z")
The City makes them available to their employees for free, presumably so we can keep working. All I have to do is remember to go downstairs on the right day. This year it was seasonal plus H1N1. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/45 "2010-10-26T15:27:41Z")
Done it 3 weeks ago. I’m too busy to deal with the flu. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/46 "2010-10-26T15:31:19Z")
I got mine free at work last Friday. I also got a Bugs Bunny bandaid in the bargain! ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/47 "2010-10-26T15:49:28Z")
Got mine 3 weeks ago - and my insurance covered it for the first time ever! Yay! ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/48 "2010-10-26T16:07:46Z")
Got mine last week. I’ve never bothered before, but it’s covered by my insurance, and I live in particularly close proximity with a healthcare worker now, so why not? ---
**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, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/49 "2010-10-26T16:12:56Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > I got mine free at work last Friday. I also got a Bugs Bunny bandaid in the bargain! Flu season! ---
**Author:** ![PhiloVance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@PhiloVance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhiloVance)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/50 "2010-10-26T16:14:16Z")
My wife is a nurse, and we have never gotten flu shots. She doubts the efficacy of them. I think I got the flu once, a 3 day version in which I was sick as a dog, but recovered nicely. Don’t really see the point myself. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/51 "2010-10-26T17:02:30Z")
The skinflints who run my place of work are willing to shell out for flu shots, so\* they\* must see some “efficacy.” The shots have always been free & are mandatory this year. I’d prefer not to waste a week or so feeling crappy. Also, I don’t have a live-in nurse. ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/52 "2010-10-26T17:18:22Z")
Insurance covered it and I have to travel as part of my job, so “yes.” ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/53 "2010-10-26T17:28:43Z")
I’m in a 3rd category. I want a flu shot. I really, really want one but I am so afraid of needles I would kick Jesus in the crotch to avoid getting a shot. They have a nasal spray version called FluMist but I am having lots of trouble finding someplace in NYC to get it. I’m willing to pay for it and everything but it must be needle-free. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/54 "2010-10-26T17:38:10Z")
Had the flu once. Wanted to die. I get the flu shot every year. ---
**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, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/55 "2010-10-26T17:38:57Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > I’m in a 3rd category. I want a flu shot. I really, really want one but I am so afraid of needles I would kick Jesus in the crotch to avoid getting a shot. They have a nasal spray version called FluMist but I am having lots of trouble finding someplace in NYC to get it. I’m willing to pay for it and everything but it must be needle-free. Would it help if I told you how many needles you’re likely to get stuck with if you end up in the hospital with a bad case of influenza? 😃 ---
**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, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/56 "2010-10-26T17:50:20Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > The skinflints who run my place of work are willing to shell out for flu shots, so\* they\* must see some “efficacy.” The shots have always been free & are mandatory this year. > > I’d prefer not to waste a week or so feeling crappy. Also, I don’t have a live-in nurse. Mandatory? Your employer can mandate a flu shot? Wow. That’s weird. What are the implications for saying no? What if you’re like **pbbth** and afraid of needles? What if you’re a hemophiliac? What if you refuse it on religious grounds? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/57 "2010-10-26T17:55:26Z")
Had my first flu shot last year (two, counting the H1N1) and already got this year’s. Avoided them in the past because I was afraid of the mini-flu that some people get after being vaccinated. I’ve had the flu a couple of times, including once when I was “young and healthy” (around age 21), which was so severe that I passed out and fell to the floor while speaking to a doctor’s receptionist, followed by about five days in bed, barely able to move or do anything other than make pathetic moaning noises. Current insurance covers the entire cost, I could barely feel the needle, and I haven’t noticed any side effects other than a slightly sore arm afterward, so I don’t see why not. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/58 "2010-10-26T18:00:12Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Would it help if I told you how many needles you’re likely to get stuck with if you end up in the hospital with a bad case of influenza? 😃 Unfortunately no. That just means I would avoid the hospital until I passed out and someone else wheeled me down there in a grocery cart or something. I’m working on getting over the needle fears but it is a slow going process. Now when I go to the doctor (thanks to a piece of advice I got here at the dope) I put on the forms EXTREME NEEDLE PHOBIA and explain that any needle work will require my being given a valium or something. ---
**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, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/59 "2010-10-26T18:04:45Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > Unfortunately no. That just means I would avoid the hospital until I passed out and someone else wheeled me down there in a grocery cart or something. I’m working on getting over the needle fears but it is a slow going process. Now when I go to the doctor (thanks to a piece of advice I got here at the dope) I put on the forms EXTREME NEEDLE PHOBIA and explain that any needle work will require my being given a valium or something. Well, the flu shot’s not only at Walgreen’s. Have you asked your doctor if she has it in her office, and if she’ll give you a valium or something beforehand? The mist really is hard to find, because they’ve had more troubles with it (nasal soreness from irritation, people getting the flu from the vaccine, etc.) and people didn’t like it last year at all. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363/60 "2010-10-26T19:45:47Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Mandatory? Your employer can mandate a flu shot? Wow. That’s weird. What are the implications for saying no? What if you’re like **pbbth** and afraid of needles? What if you’re a hemophiliac? What if you refuse it on religious grounds? You can submit a form explaining the reason you aren’t getting the shot. Medical reasons like egg allergies–or “Opinion” reasons like not thinking the shot really works. It’s “mandatory” to get a shot or explain why you aren’t getting it; nobody is allowed to just forget the whole thing. This is a medical/research institution, although many of us have no real patient contact. Refusers who _do_ work with patients (some immune-compromised) might have some explaining to do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flu-shots/558363.md?page=4)