I’ve been getting flu shots for several years now and consequently haven’t had the flu since.
Also we’ve had a contractor working on our house since late October, but three weeks ago he came down with the flu. Yesterday he came by to apologize for his absence, and for not getting a flu shot. He looks like death warmed over and I don’t think we’ll be seeing him working until sometime in January.
Unless you wear a tin foil hat or have a valid reason, flu shots are a given.
I’m just not a high risk for it, and I don’t get it for free like some workers. I am never around anyone who is at a high risk. The vaccine is indeed less effective, and doesn’t have the same “eradicate the disease” motivation that the mandatory vaccines do.
If they do ever have a vaccine that could eliminate the flu, I would expect people to pressure for it to become mandatory. Then I would probably force myself to get one. If I become part of or am around high risk people, I would take one. But, as it is now, the benefits I see do not outweigh the hassle.
Especially given my past history with vaccines. Sure, I was a kid, and my body should be stronger now. But it’s still frightening. I don’t want seizures again.
I never got the shot. Got the flu at age 32. I finally knew why people said they were in so much pain they wish they were dead. I’m 65 now and have gotten the shot every year since. No flu since age 32.
I work at a hospital (non-clinical) and flu shots are a condition of employment. Hell yes I get a flu shot.
Yep.
Now I’ll note that last time I got the flu it was shortly after getting a shot. But that was the problem - I got the shot very late in the season and contracted the flu just a few days later, before I had time to properly develop antibodies. So I crapped out on that one.
Did that discourage me from getting future shots? Fuck no. Quite the contrary. As noted above the flu REALLY SUCKS. It was a week of massive misery, followed by another week of recovery before I was functioning at anything close to normal.
The flu shot is no panacea. But I get it for free and even if it were only 1% effective it would be well worth it to me.
The ACA mandates that all health insurance plans offer flu shots with no copay. It may be more convenient to pay $30 at a CVS or Walgreens, but if you’re covered (and you should be) it’s included with the premiums. Also, my experience is that doctors’ offices will do it as a drop-in because A. It’s so fast and B. It’s so important. I know that YMWV.
Broomstick, have you got an albumen allergy? You may still be able to get flu shots:
Also, some workplaces offer them for free–I wouldn’t say it’s usual (here in LA), but my wife does a lot of work for a company that brings in a nurse to give free flu shots. Enlightened self-interest.
Get mine every year. Unless you have a valid reason, such as an allergy, it would be stupid not to. Saying, “I’ve never had the flu,” doesn’t cut it as an excuse.
Yup, I’m immunocompromised, so it’s a necessity.
How would you know who around you is high-risk? Do you interview every bystander in the vicinity?
Yeah, this is pretty much impossible. It would mean, BigT, that you were never around the elderly, pregnant women, babies and children, asthmatics, diabetics, people with heart disease, people with cancer, and people with auto-immune diseases. You don’t have to hang out with them socially or at work - coughing near them in line at the store is enough to pass the flu along to them.
I’m an ER doctor. I get the flu shot every year and would even if it weren’t required where I work. I’m around sick people all the time and I’ve seen up close how miserable real influenza is. Even to the extent of having young, previously healthy patients who died of flu. I make sure to get my shot early enough that I have time to develop antibodies before I start seeing a lot of flu patients.
Yes, I do. I wasn’t always strict about it when I was younger. I’ve had pneumonia several times now (not from flu), and H1N1 made me incredibly ill. I get the shot every year, and make my family do it too.
(Ironically, my kids remember having H1N1 fondly. They remember it as the time they got to watch movies in bed and eat ice cream.)
Always get one; it’s easy and free and convenient. I haven’t had the flu in decades and it helps protect others
I keep meaning too, but didn’t get around to it this year. A couple of places near me were offering shots, but they ran out of vaccine pretty quick. I could probably have got one at the doctor’s office, but that means a lot of waiting. I plan to get it next year, but I’ll have to get in earlier before they run out.
I didn’t get the shot my first year of college, 1997. It was the first time I remember ever being told to get one (unless my mom had me get one at the pediatrician’s before then.) it was a stupid reason I didn’t get one - my stupid friend was like “my mom can get us one for free, she’s a nurse.” She didn’t.
I didn’t get the flu, but I did get a stomach bug and at the time I didn’t k now the difference. I was like “goddammit look what you did to me!” to my friend.
Anyway, I’ve gotten one every year since. The one year that it was scarce, 2009, was the year my niece was born. My mom and I stood in line for several hours to get one, to protect my SIL and niece.
I tend to feel a little poorly for a day or so after my shot. But I’ve read accounts of what the flu is like and I deal with it. Better than the flu. Better than passing the flu on.
My friend is a Type 1 diabetic and she doesn’t get one. It drives me insane. I honestly don’t know how her doctor or insurance let her get away with(out) it.
I had the 'flu (apparently) back in 1967 when I was 7 yrs old. Never since.
I’m 58 now and have no intentions of ever getting a 'flu shot unless I become immuno-compromised in my older age. I’m not afraid of needles/vaccines, I just get sick of the bloody hype when people with a sniffle moan that they have THE FLU.
I think I might have heard of maybe one of my acquaintances getting the real flu in the last 20 yrs. It’s just not the threat to me that it is pumped up to be. I work from home (so no contact with workmates WHO PROBABLY AREN’T AT WORK IF THEY HAD THE REAL FLU anyway).
I’m embarrassed for you.
I have heard all the arguments why I should, and they seem reasonable on teh surface, especially as I am a huge advocate of all other vaccinations, immunisations, and herd immunity to protect children.
But:
[LIST=a]
[li]I don’t trust the statistics of deaths from influenza each year. They are not telling the whole story, in that they are actually dying of other illnesses, of which the flu is only a single contributing factor. Exaggerated statistics to that degree automatically make me distrust them.[/li][li]I have never had the flu, ever, and though science tells me getting a jab will not cause me to start getting it, I don’t want to risk it by rocking that boat.[/li][li]The odds of the strain being affected, of actually reducing the chances of the flu spreading, or even making a single damn bit of difference, are so slight compared to not getting the jab at all, I just don’t see that there’s any point.[/li][li]What people call the flu is usually not influenza, and they think it’s more prevalent than it really is.[/li][/LIST]
Sure, if you’re susceptible, get a shot, but if you are not I really think it’s better to stay out of its way.
Really? Go for it then, be fully ashamed for me. 