# If you have resisted getting an annual flu vaccine because you don't like shots... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 29, 2017, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-resisted-getting-an-annual-flu-vaccine-because-you-dont-like-shots/790134 "2017-06-29T13:53:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-resisted-getting-an-annual-flu-vaccine-because-you-dont-like-shots/790134/1 "2017-06-29T13:53:16Z")
…well there might be a solution for you on the horizon. No, not the flu mist, but a vaccine patch that you can put on your self for 20 minutes, and gives you the same protection that the traditional shot does. > **[Vaccine patch could end need for flu shots](https://www.telegram.com/story/news/nation-world/2017/06/29/vaccine-patch-could-end-need-for-flu-shots/20404368007/)** > > Researchers have tested a flu vaccine patch in a human clinical trial and found that it delivered as much protection as a traditional jab with a needle. > It’s not just needle-phobes who stand to ben… About 500,000 people die every year worldwide from complications associated with the flu. On average about 40,000 of those deaths are in the US. But only about 40% of people in the US get the vaccine, which helps decrease the spread of the flu. Further testing of the patch is expected before it is widely used. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-resisted-getting-an-annual-flu-vaccine-because-you-dont-like-shots/790134/2 "2017-06-29T15:40:38Z")
My question is whether or not it would work for those of us allergic to the traditional shot. I mean, work without the risk of death thing. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-resisted-getting-an-annual-flu-vaccine-because-you-dont-like-shots/790134/3 "2017-06-29T15:43:54Z")
I got the flu shot a couple of years ago, and it made me autistic. Later that day, somebody spilled a bowl of Cheerios on the floor, and I knew how many there were without counting them, just like _Rain Man_. That’s when I figured it out. I got better, but now I’m against all vaccines, and also chemicals. That’s the real reason people get sick, because of chemicals. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-resisted-getting-an-annual-flu-vaccine-because-you-dont-like-shots/790134/4 "2017-06-29T15:57:30Z")
I’ve never gotten a flu shot, and I’m now 78. I haven’t had a cold in more than ten years. I attribute that to a lifestyle that regularly exercises my immune system. And the fact that I never go to school or a workplace to become exposed to contagents (or whatever they’re called). I’ve been sealed into about 30 airfline flight cabins in the past three years, to and from all six continents, and I have not yet succumbed to that notorious exposure. My general conclusion from what I’ve read is that the currently fashionable flu shot may or may not be effective against whatever turns out to be the flu epidemic, rather hit or miss. I got shingles shot because that is serious, and I have yellow fever because it is obligatory, and my TTP and polio boosters are up to date. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-resisted-getting-an-annual-flu-vaccine-because-you-dont-like-shots/790134/5 "2017-06-29T19:23:24Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > My question is whether or not it would work for those of us allergic to the traditional shot. I mean, work without the risk of death thing. For the benefit of those who can’t get their shots, getting as many OTHER people vaccinated as possible protects you due to the herd immunity. So join the herd everybody and get your shots! Mooooo! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-resisted-getting-an-annual-flu-vaccine-because-you-dont-like-shots/790134/6 "2017-06-29T20:07:06Z")
Yes, herd immunity and somewhat obsessive hand-washing. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-resisted-getting-an-annual-flu-vaccine-because-you-dont-like-shots/790134/7 "2017-06-29T22:01:42Z")
The thing is that needle technology has improved to the point that I hardly notice the injection any more. But I get my shot every year. As it happens, I just read two days ago (Science Times) that last winter’s flu vaccines was particularly ineffective. Still no one I knew got the flu. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-resisted-getting-an-annual-flu-vaccine-because-you-dont-like-shots/790134/8 "2017-06-30T14:43:35Z")
I get flu shots. And was told the same thing when I presented at the ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-resisted-getting-an-annual-flu-vaccine-because-you-dont-like-shots/790134/9 "2017-06-30T15:03:27Z")
Sigh. I presented with severe respiratory distress and tachycardia at the ER and was told yes, crappy flu shot. I also had pneumonia although I did have that shot. Again, I was told I got the crappy pneumonia shot and the new one if much better. Pneumonia. In Phoenix. In June when it was 115 degrees. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-resisted-getting-an-annual-flu-vaccine-because-you-dont-like-shots/790134/10 "2017-06-30T16:14:56Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I’ve never gotten a flu shot, and I’m now 78. See, if you’d gotten annual vaccination against influenza, you’d be 35 today! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-have-resisted-getting-an-annual-flu-vaccine-because-you-dont-like-shots/790134/11 "2017-06-30T18:24:56Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I’ve never gotten a flu shot, and I’m now 78. I haven’t had a cold in more than ten years. I attribute that to a lifestyle that regularly exercises my immune system. And the fact that I never go to school or a workplace to become exposed to contagents (or whatever they’re called). Did you ever think of the possibility that you could be passing viruses around without getting sick yourself?