# Why not vaccinate in the butt? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [February 27, 2021, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-vaccinate-in-the-butt/933899 "2021-02-27T14:57:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2021, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-vaccinate-in-the-butt/933899/41 "2021-03-14T14:09:33Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > Found out the Navy at the time did not test for STD’s, you would receive 3 shots of penicillin whether you really needed it or not. I doubt any of the branches did. Those three shots probably cost the military less than $3, and most went for the syringes. The test probably cost about $20. > [@racer72](#): > > He stabbed both in the same spots from the previous shots, giving half the dose in each. When my son needed a painful antibiotics shot, and another shot of some kind when he was 4, and in the hospital (1 night) with croup, two nurses came in, and simultaneously stabbed him in each thigh. It was probably better than doing them sequentially, allowed me to comfort him immediately, and also kept him from reaching down and interfering with a shot, since there were two. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-vaccinate-in-the-butt/933899/42 "2021-03-17T05:59:08Z")
On the afternoon drive this afternoon there was a discussion about what testing still needs to be done for vaccines to be okay for children. One MD said when his 70+ mother, who was very petite, received her shot it made her arm swell up very badly, like three or four times its normal size. The DHS people were _very_ interested in the reaction figuring it had to do with her size and extrapolating it to child-size. The MD predicted kids would get their shot in the thigh or buttock rather than the arm. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-vaccinate-in-the-butt/933899/43 "2021-03-17T09:35:11Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > On the afternoon drive this afternoon there was a discussion about what testing still needs to be done for vaccines to be okay for children. One MD said when his 70+ mother, who was very petite, received her shot it made her arm swell up very badly, like three or four times its normal size. I don’t know where research is, but it has to be determined whether hormone levels in kids make any difference, and what implications might be for growth. It’s probably the case that nothing in the shot itself adversely affects growth, but if there is a rare allergic reaction, or some other bad event, are the treatments for it safe or children, particularly do they not affect growth. I don’t think it’s common for kids to get any shot in the arm. I don’t think my son had a shot in the arm until he was about 10, and he’s a really big guy. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-vaccinate-in-the-butt/933899/44 "2021-03-17T10:41:19Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I don’t think it’s common for kids to get any shot in the arm All my (recent) kids childhood vaccinations were arm/shoulder shots. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-vaccinate-in-the-butt/933899/45 "2021-03-17T14:31:12Z")
As were my kids’ vaccinations in the mid-late '90’s. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-vaccinate-in-the-butt/933899/46 "2021-03-17T15:35:52Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I don’t think it’s common for kids to get any shot in the arm. I don’t think my son had a shot in the arm until he was about 10, and he’s a really big guy. I think it depends on age- as I said above, my memory is that my kids got vaccinations in the thigh when they were very young ( I think until they were 18 months or so ) and by the time they were five-ish, the vaccinations were in the arm. I can’t imagine trying to give a 6-18 month old an injection in the arm. But (again, according to my memory) most vaccinations were before 18 months. There were only a couple of vaccinations given around the age of five - some booster shots. Then the next vaccine was around 12-ish which would almost always be in the upper arm. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-vaccinate-in-the-butt/933899/47 "2021-03-17T19:43:01Z")
My son has gotten a flu shot every year. He was born in October, and didn’t get one that year, but he was breastfed, and I got mine early that year, when I was still pregnant, which I did on purpose. He’s gotten one every year since, at his well-child check-up. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-vaccinate-in-the-butt/933899/48 "2021-03-17T19:50:01Z")
I got my military vaccines in the early 90s, and most of them were done with the gun, and in the arm. By the time my son got vaccines (b. 2006), the gun was gone. I just Googled, and apparently while they were much lower risk for disease transmission than, say, reusing a needle, they were not zero-risk, and using a different needle each time is zero-risk (well, there’s human error risk, but even with no human error, the risk with the guns is not zero). If your kids got gun vaccines, they may have been in the arm. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-vaccinate-in-the-butt/933899/49 "2021-03-17T19:51:16Z")
They never got gun vaccines. Only regular injections. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-vaccinate-in-the-butt/933899/50 "2021-03-17T19:53:28Z")
I don’t recall kids getting flu shots when my kids were getting vaccinated in the 90s. So your son was getting flu shots in his butt or thigh when he was 7- 10ish? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-vaccinate-in-the-butt/933899/51 "2021-03-17T22:12:31Z")
Thigh. Flu shots for kids are a 21st century thing-- I didn’t get them in the 1970s or 80s. But yeah, he has had one since he was one. I think the pediatric recommendation is to begin vaccinating at the first flu season after the child is six months. They may even vaccinate out-of-season if the baby isn’t breastfed, but I don’t know. ETA: in the thigh, IIRC. I don’t think he got anything in the butt. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-vaccinate-in-the-butt/933899/52 "2021-03-18T00:40:40Z")
“In the butt” is a bit misleading if you don’t know what they are talking about. It’s the muscle at the top of the butt. (If anybody was getting penicillin actually in the ‘cheek’, somebody was doing it wrong.) ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-vaccinate-in-the-butt/933899/53 "2021-03-18T01:02:01Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > “In the butt” is a bit misleading if you don’t know what they are talking about. It’s the muscle at the top of the butt. Yeah. I know. I got many a shot there, because I had strep about three times a year from age three to age 11, more or less. It how I ended up allergic to penicillin, and [PANDAS](https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/pandas/index.shtml). Kids who get this can behave very oddly when infected with strep. It might be how my insomnia got started, because the first time I remember having it was during a bout of strep. I was also experiencing psychotic-level paranoia, and when I did sleep (mostly during the day), bizarre dreams. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-vaccinate-in-the-butt/933899/54 "2021-03-19T02:35:58Z")
Are they still doing the nasal-spray flu vaccine for children? I’ve heard different things about this. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-vaccinate-in-the-butt/933899/55 "2021-03-19T02:54:19Z")
It is back to being as recommended as the injectable form for children 2 and up. It has been reformulated to be as protective as the injectable from. Pediatricians are advising all children 6 months and up to be vaccinated by one or the other flu vaccine. As a nurse who did mass vaccination clinics, the injectable is easier to administer and I actually prefer it for my grown-up self. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-vaccinate-in-the-butt/933899/56 "2021-03-19T03:49:50Z")
I got the nasal spray fly vaccine once, as an adult. It kinda gave me flu in the nose. I could smell flu for way too long. I didn’t realize i knew the odor of flu until i got it, but i had flu a lot as a kid, and I recognized that smell, it was the smell of sickness. That being said, other than the nasty smell, my worst symptom was a slightly runny nose, and I disliked it less than i dislike injections. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-vaccinate-in-the-butt/933899/57 "2021-03-25T19:07:25Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I got my military vaccines in the early 90s, and most of them were done with the gun, and in the arm. By the time my son got vaccines (b. 2006), the gun was gone. I just Googled, and apparently while they were much lower risk for disease transmission than, say, reusing a needle, they were not zero-risk The guy ahead of me in line had the medic sneeze just as he pulled the trigger, making a half-inch bloody gash in the guy’s arm. I’ve not been a fan of the guns ever since. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-vaccinate-in-the-butt/933899.md?page=2)