# Why should(n't) I get the H1N1 vaccine? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 12, 2010, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-nt-i-get-the-h1n1-vaccine/528640 "2010-02-12T01:37:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 6
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-nt-i-get-the-h1n1-vaccine/528640/6 "2010-02-12T03:39:04Z")
The shots are not free because nothing is free. There’s no charge to those who get the shots when administered. The shots paid for in some other way. Our taxes pay for the shots when they’re given by government public health. Here’s another poll about flu shots. [Poll about flu vaccination - In My Humble Opinion - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=531739) I’m nearly 60, and I do have asthma, so theoretically my risk is elevated. But I haven’t gotten one because 1. I never get flu. Cold, bronchitis, yes, once or twice a year. But not flu. 2. The virulence and transmissibility of this year’s flu were uncertain. I’ve gotten a flu shot very rarely. The last time in the past 20 years was for the bird flu in 2006. That was because there was good evidence for airborne transmission, and the mortality rate for confirmed cases was 60 percent (although there’s no way to know how many people were exposed and how many with mild cases didn’t go to a doctor). For the current strain, neither of those factors has turned out to be nearly as bad. Also, if a true pandemic was averted, I figure the media would be trumpeting the success of the way the Obama administration handled it. They haven’t, so I guess there isn’t a huge story there, even taking into account that prevention generally isn’t headline news. (I’m not saying the handling was an overreaction, however.) Worldwide deaths due to H1N1 so far: 8000-14000 Worldwide deaths due to seasonal flu: 250k-500k > **[2009 swine flu pandemic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_flu_pandemic)** > > The 2009 swine flu pandemic, caused by the H1N1/swine flu/influenza virus and declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) from June 2009 to August 2010, is the third recent flu pandemic involving the H1N1 virus (the first being the 1918–1920 Spanish flu pandemic and the second being the 1977 Russian flu). The first two cases were discovered independently in the United States in April 2009. The virus appeared to be a new strain of H1N1 that resulted from a previous triple reassortm Some stud... Should you get it? Your call. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-nt-i-get-the-h1n1-vaccine/528640)._