I got my flu shot yesterday. I’m lucky, since my job involves a lot of contact with the public my company provides the flu shot free of charge. I’ve also been the first one at work to get it 3 years running! I work in management so I think it’s important to set a good example, also since the syringes they use change every year I’m perfectly happy with being the Guinea pig. Last year they sent the wrong syringe, so that kind of hurt, but we got the right one for everybody else.
If you don’t work for a company that provides it, you can get it from your doctor, local walk in clinic, and even most pharmacies including ones in grocery stores. Insurance companies are usually happy to pay for flu shots, but if yours doesn’t, it will be cheap and definitely cheaper than the amount of time you would be off work if you actually get the flu.
The amount of myths going around about the flu shot astound me. There are a number of people at work who think they got the flu from the flu shot, but that’s not possible. Unless you’re getting the “Flumist” nasal spray the vaccine you are receiving contains no live virus. Without live virus it can’t give you the flu, heck even with the attenuated live virus you can’t get the flu. You can get a low grade fever for a day or two (much better than a high grade fever for a week with the real flu) or more likely than that you’ll get a cold at around the same time and blame it on the shot, rather than the 5 people you know were just sick at work. The problem with cold and flu like symptoms is that you get them with both the flu and with colds, unfortunately the cold virus evolves too fast for anyone to develop a vaccine against it.
From the CDC (emphasis mine):
Seasonal flu vaccines protect against the three influenza viruses that research indicates will be most common during the upcoming season. The viruses in the vaccine can change each year based on international surveillance and scientists’ estimations about which types and strains of viruses will circulate in a given year. About 2 weeks after vaccination, antibodies that provide protection against the influenza viruses in the vaccine develop in the body…
CDC recommends that people get their seasonal flu vaccine as soon as vaccine becomes available in their community. Vaccination before December is best since this timing ensures that protective antibodies are in place before flu activity is typically at its highest. CDC continues to encourage people to get vaccinated throughout the flu season, which can begin as early as October and last as late as May. Over the course of the flu season, many different influenza viruses can circulate at different times and in different places. As long as flu viruses are still spreading in the community, vaccination can provide protective benefit….
The viruses in the flu shot are killed (inactivated), so you cannot get the flu from a flu shot.
The viruses in the nasal-spray vaccine are weakened and do not cause severe symptoms often associated with influenza illness. (In clinical studies, transmission of vaccine viruses to close contacts has occurred only rarely.)
Now is also a good time to remind you to get your Tdap shot if your last Tdap or Td shot isn’t current.