# Too late to get a flu shot? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 18, 2018, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-late-to-get-a-flu-shot/824722 "2018-11-18T06:11:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-late-to-get-a-flu-shot/824722/21 "2018-11-26T22:18:26Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > I didn’t know about the 2-week thing, thanks all for that tidbit of info. I was concerned because most employer-sponsored flu shots - free because they don’t want their entire staff calling out sick - are done in October IIRC.That sounds horrifying! 😮 I think my son got his in September (at work; he works for a grocery store with a pharmacy on site). I think that’s too early; from what I’ve read, it _can_ lose effectiveness after a few months. But, better than nothing. A couple years back, I didn’t get mine until late November / early December. I got it at a pharmacy - and the pharmacist scolded me for waiting so long :rolleyes:. Yeah, maybe… but I had been fighting a NASTY case of bronchitis the previous 4 weeks or more and didn’t think adding a flu shot to the mix was a great idea. And I wasn’t around other people much, so I figured I was low risk. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-late-to-get-a-flu-shot/824722/22 "2018-11-27T16:40:07Z")
Why do the chain pharmacies where I live offer me 5$ if I accept a flu shot?? I don’t get it. I’m past retirement age and I would never get one… but that’s me ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-late-to-get-a-flu-shot/824722/23 "2018-11-27T17:21:23Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > Why do the chain pharmacies where I live offer me 5$ if I accept a flu shot?? I don’t get it. I’m past retirement age and I would never get one… but that’s me I don’t know the answer to the first part, although perhaps it’s like a rebate to be competitive. They are probably getting paid by insurance companies, so this is a way of discounting your cost to less than zero. Although I would think the insurance companies would frown on this arrangement as a “kickback.” The older you get the more dangerous it is to get the flu. Even if it doesn’t kill you or hospitalize you, it will make you miserable. Why wouldn’t you want to prevent a preventable illness? ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-late-to-get-a-flu-shot/824722/24 "2018-11-28T17:02:42Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I don’t know the answer to the first part, although perhaps it’s like a rebate to be competitive. They are probably getting paid by insurance companies, so this is a way of discounting your cost to less than zero. Although I would think the insurance companies would frown on this arrangement as a “kickback.” > > The older you get the more dangerous it is to get the flu. Even if it doesn’t kill you or hospitalize you, it will make you miserable. Why wouldn’t you want to prevent a preventable illness? More or less this: > **[5 Sure-Fire Ways to Beat the Flu](https://greenmedinfo.com/blog/5-sure-fire-ways-beat-flu-1)** > > With flu season rapidly approaching, recommendations for preventatives are everywhere but many are not backed up by science. Can you guess the top five? (Hint: vaccination is not one of them!) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-late-to-get-a-flu-shot/824722/25 "2018-11-28T17:37:53Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > More or less this: > > [http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/5-sure-fire-ways-beat-flu-1](http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/5-sure-fire-ways-beat-flu-1) Man, what a load of hooey. Probiotics for the flu? Come on. And Echinacea? No [study](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echinacea#Research) has proven any effectiveness at all. Etc. And the Anti-Vax nonsense demonstrates a complete lack of facts. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-late-to-get-a-flu-shot/824722/26 "2018-11-28T17:40:49Z")
Do you read footnotes about references? ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2018, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-late-to-get-a-flu-shot/824722/27 "2018-11-29T00:58:19Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > This is the perfect time to get a flu shot. About $30. > 2018 2019 season is just starting to pick up: CDC Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report > [https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm#modalIdString\_CDCTable\_0](https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm#modalIdString_CDCTable_0) Last I checked, Costco was offering them for $15. ETA: [they are now up to $20.](https://www.costco.com/Pharmacy/adult-immunization-program.html) ---
**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:** [November 29, 2018, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-late-to-get-a-flu-shot/824722/28 "2018-11-29T12:48:54Z")
When I got my flu vaccine at my Giant Eagle pharmacy, they not only accepted my insurance, but they gave me $5 to boot! (It was added to my rewards card). ---
**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:** [November 29, 2018, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-late-to-get-a-flu-shot/824722/29 "2018-11-29T13:29:12Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > Do you read footnotes about references? I not only look at footnotes, I check out references themselves. GreenMedInfo (a highly credulous and misleading source of medical “information”) loves to tout test tube and animal studies (as well as a few cherry-picked human trials) to support its claims that “natural” foods/supplements can prevent/cure just about anything. Its citation of a Czech study suggesting an Echinacea drink treated flu as well as a prescription flu medication might be taken with a grain of salt (probably tastier than the drink), seeing that Echinacea has repeatedly shown to be of no or dubious value in preventing or treating respiratory infections including influenza. I find it interesting that sources like GreenMedInfo (which typically dismiss legitimate medical research on the grounds that, y’know, Big Pharma), would have no problem with a study that was paid for by the Echinacea drink maker, and even co-written by an employee of the company! _“This study was sponsored by A. Vogel Bioforce AG, Roggwil, Switzerland, manufacturer of Echinaforce Hotdrink. R. Schoop is an employee of Bioforce AG, and K. Rauš and P. Klein have received honorarium funds from the study sponsor. The authors have indicated that they have no other conflicts of interest regarding the content of this article.”_ 😃 To [put it simply](https://www.foxnews.com/health/do-vitamins-c-and-d-prevent-the-flu), vitamins C and D seem to be of no real value in preventing colds and flu, unless one is badly deficient in them (very unlikely if you eat a halfway decent diet). Even the NIH’s own division on complementary medicine (which bends over backwards to find some use for alt med) recognizes that influenza vaccination (limited as its effectiveness can be in some years) is by far [the best way](https://nccih.nih.gov/health/tips/flucold.htm) to prevent flu. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2018, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-late-to-get-a-flu-shot/824722/30 "2018-11-29T13:43:58Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > Do you read footnotes about references? No reason to when the stupidity is trivially dismissable. I don’t have to read footnotes on a page touting a flat Earth, for example. Plus I did give a reference to a page with citations which are a _lot_ more solid than anything on the page you linked to. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-late-to-get-a-flu-shot/824722/31 "2018-12-01T04:24:58Z")
Having been hospitalized twice with pneumonia, I’m never again going to skip a flu shot. Just got one today as part of my regular doctor’s office visit. I’m 59 and apparently my lungs are just plain mediocre. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-late-to-get-a-flu-shot/824722/32 "2018-12-01T04:30:02Z")
There are many places in Cali that give them for free, so maybe Texas does too? And no, I don’t think there is ever such a thing as too late with flu shots. Pretty sure the pharmacies do it nearly year-round. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-late-to-get-a-flu-shot/824722/33 "2018-12-06T01:22:32Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I don’t know the answer to the first part, although perhaps it’s like a rebate to be competitive. They are probably getting paid by insurance companies, so this is a way of discounting your cost to less than zero. Although I would think the insurance companies would frown on this arrangement as a “kickback.” Its a marketing thing, pure and simple. You get a 5 dollar gift certificate, or 20% coupon, or whatever - either of which must be used at that store. Whatever you purchase with that is money you might have spent elsewhere - like at their competitor. Kickbacks abound in the insurance industry, particularly as related to pharmaceuticals. Do some googling re “pharmacy benefits managers” From one site, “Prescription drug rebates are generally paid by a pharmaceutical manufacturer to a PBM, who then shares a portion with the health insurer.1 Rebates are mostly used for high-cost brand-name prescription drugs in competitive therapeutic classes where there are interchangeable products (rarely for generics), and aim to incentivize PBMs and health insurers to include the pharmaceutical manufacturer’s products on their formularies and to obtain preferred “tier” placement.” With that kind of scam going on, I don’t think the insurance companies care much about you getting a tiny discount to use CVS vs Walgreens. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-late-to-get-a-flu-shot/824722.md?page=1)