I need to decide whether I am going to get a flu shot this year. Some of you may be wondering why I even have to decide. For you, it might be “of course you get a flu shot!” Or maybe it’s “never in a million years!”
And I’m torn. I understand the good vaccinations do. After all, I was among the last groups of children to get small pox vaccinations. I love that the disease was eradicated enough through vaccinations that my kids didn’t have to be vaccinated or worry about exposure. I love that polio no longer makes children in the U.S. suffer. But that’s small pox and polio, and this is the flu.
I don’t work in a hospital, but I do (on occasion) enter a hospital as part of my job. I don’t think I am high risk. I don’t take care of high risk people. Do I need to get the shot?
I have never had a flu shot. I rarely get sick (and I hope I didn’t just jinx myself).I have had influenza twice, maybe three times in my life. I really don’t like shots but I also don’t like getting sick.
I posed this question on my Facebook page and started a firestorm of comments. I was surprised by the number of people who posted and told me, rather emphatically in nearly all cases, “YES!” or “NO!”
So, I am still wavering.
How do you feel about flu shots? Do you get one every year? Do you think they’re unnecessary? Why do you feel the way you do? Would you tell me to get one or to skip it? I really want to know!
