They won't stop you from getting the flu but they will lessen the effects if you do get it. With the COVID-19 pandemic complicating things, I think it is wise to get one. It's cheap insurance.
I got mine Friday at my local Kroger Pharmacy. This year they are immunizing against 4 strains of virus vs 3 in previous years. So you may get a little more tenderness in the arm. I did for about 12 hours.
More info:
Not to mention that the flu and COVID-19 share a lot of symptoms. COVID-19 testing resources are best concentrated on people who don't have the flu.
I only got the flu shot once in the late-90s - I got SICK AS A DOG after getting it and I haven't gotten that sick since then - I've been passing on it since then and will keep passing on it - I never wanna be that sick again (I was bed-bound like for a week) - I've known other folks that have had similar bad-episodes w/ it.
@Papi. About 25% of the time, I have some sort of reaction to the shot. The first time was the worst as I was laid up for a day. I have no choice but to take it because most hospitals require it as a condition to work there now. I started out as a skeptic of it because of my first reaction. However, I haven't been sick much since I've had to start taking it for about 10 years.
I agree.
I don't trust any vaccine the gov. is willing to give away for cheap or free. Heard way too many scary stories from people whose immune system was maybe average at best before getting the shot, which then turned unchanged or worse after getting it.
I actually haven't caught the flu in at least 3 or maybe 4 years - around the time I just made some dietary and lifestyle habits that aim to boost immunity naturally. Not only that, but besides the flu, I haven't really been sick with anything else since then as well. (But I've noticed my sensitivity to processed foods may increase the longer I stick with eating cleaner.) With that considered, I don't think I'll need the COVID shot.
I really can't remember the last time I was laid-up b/c of a cold/flu after my flu-shot episode, it was likely some time in the 2000s when I lived in Dallas and it would get cold but it wasn't that bad - in the last 10+ years if I get anything related to a cold it's at most maybe a soar-throat for a day or 3; a runny nose; and maybe some phelgm ; and even that is uncommon for me - if at some point in the future I start getting sick w/ the flu/bad-cold more often, then I'll reconsider getting a flu-shot.
I don't ever recall having the flu and therefor never bothered getting them until I was diagnosed with stage 3 COPD.
As a result of my COPD, I have been hospitalized 3 times in the last 4 years with pneumonia despite having had 3 pneumonia immunizations that are supposed to last for 5 years.
However the shots did decrease the seriousness of the pneumonia . The last episode was last December and I was only in the hospital for 2 days. So I am a believer that they do help.
Unfortunately the pneumonia that is caused by COVID-19 is a different type than the ones that I have had. So my previous pneumonia shots will not help me if I get COVID-19.
So I'm staying out of the clubs until there is a vaccination or cure for COVID-19.
Never gotten a flu shot. I"m not aware that I have ever had the flu. If I have, it was when I was a kid and don't remember it. I'm not really sure why they are predicting a bad flu season. People are wearing masks, are staying away from others, are washing their hands more now than ever, hand sanitizer is everywhere. I'm actually thinking this flu season may not even happen.
@Eve
I agree with you:
“I don't trust any vaccine the gov. is willing to give away for cheap or free.”
In America the system focuses on profits and the capitalist justification of suffering from diseases and death
Look, I personally know two people who got sick and had positive COVID tests.... One of them is now dead.
He wasn't some old geezer with a impaired immune system. He was a 51 year old emergency responder with no known health issues. He probably got hit with a heavy dose (Google viral load) because it was early on and people weren't wearing masks...
Wear a freaking mask people, and take your vaccines...
"... I'm not really sure why they are predicting a bad flu season ..."
I think they want to try and minimize flu-hospitalizations so the hospitals are not possibly overwhelmed with Covid and flu hospitalizations
Poor flu. Ain't done nuffin different and now so many want vaccinate against it too. If that wasn't enough expect to get it bundled with the Covid vaccine once available.
But srsly southern hemisphere showing marked decrease in flu cases d/t Covid measure in place. I expect similar but maybe not same degree here in the states in the northern hemisphere.
Meh. I’ll get my flu shot sometime at work once it stops being so freakin busy with people getting flu shots. Or once the Tamiflu scripts actually pop up. 🤷🏻♀️
Vaccines don't (actually) lessen the effects. That's what flu medication is for. Vaccines inject less potent strains of the virus so that your immune system can learn how to fight it when the real dangerous pathogens invade your body.
@ alkaholik. That's why facemasks are effective in high contaminant environments, and less so in open spaces populated with mostly healthy people.
I'll be getting mine this week. The last three years I've gotten one were the first years in a long time that I didn't get any flu.
I've been getting flu shots for ~ the last 15 years, no side effects so far. I got the flu in just 1 of those years (2 months after getting shot). Felt like crap for 2 or 3 days, so it may have minimized severity a bit. I've been fortunate with the laundry list of shots/vaccines given to people traveling to some 3rd world countries. My last employer required that ~ 10 yrs. ago. Aside from a sore upper arm for a day or so, no problems. One coworker felt flu-like for 2 days or so, and had to burn some sick days.
The last time I got a flu shot, I got very sick right afterwards and had lasting soreness in that shoulder. I swore off flu shots after that. This season, I may go ahead and get one, though, to protect against a double-infection. I do plan to wait until late September to help make sure I'm protected through the whole season.
@nickifree
I was with you initially, and then you lost me completely.
Masks are effective in all environments. People are healthy because they haven't caught it yet. We are just now learning of long termhealth effects, such as damaged cardiac tissue, even in those who were asymptomatic.
Masks are not there to protect you... They are there to protect everyone around you. 50% of transmissions have been from those who were asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic.
When you are wearing your mask, do you every catch a whiff of perfume from someone you just passed?
Well, guess who's air you're also breathing if that person you passed wasn't wearing a mask...
Masks are not fool proof, but they do greatly reduce transmission, AND reduce the viral load of those who do get it... Thus making the virus less severe, and increasing survivability.
Just ask my 51 year old healthy friend...
I was never a proponent of getting the flu shot but have to get it as a condition of work. I have had reactions before but, other than the first time, it has been mild.
I got the flu shot for this year and had a minor reaction. I woke in the middle of the night feeling mild nasal congestion that you might feel when a cold is starting. However, by the time I woke up, I was fine.
Does this guarantee I won't get the flu? Probably not. I have not had a severe cold or flu since I started getting the flu shot. I still get slightly ill once or twice a year but seem to kick anything in a day or two. I could just be my immune system or it could be because of help from the flu shot. Just glad I haven't been very ill in over 10 years now.
Funny thing about the flu shot over the years I have gotten the vaccination sporadically, the funny part comes in that only in the years that I got vaccinated were did I getthe flu
I get a flu vaccine every year but people need to understand that if they get it in September, it will not last the entire season. Its good for a max of six months and March is one of those times a lot of people get the flu. End of October is the best time. If you get sore from it, do it on a non-strip club day.
I get a flu shot each year. I’ve never had an adverse reaction from the shot and I’ve never had anything beyond a mild illness some winters since I started getting them. Nothing is guaranteed, of course, but the flu shots have seemed well worth it to me.
One infection raises the likelihood of a second "superinfection" on top of it. I got mine ASAP.