And flu shot done

[julesjones]

Got this year's flu shot done on Thursday. I've been having it for the last 20 years, so until this year I was on a 56k modem that needed a landline, just with the occasional refresh of the wiring to make sure it was still working. I'm still getting it as a belt and braces thing alongside this year's shiny new 4G but I can't want to get my next armful of mRNA and my update from the 4G model to 5G.

The healthcare assistant said the jab hadn't been as bad for her this year, and I'm finding the same. I always get a tender arm and tiredness for a few days afterwards, but while I can tell that I've had a jab it's quite a bit less tender than usual. Still glad I had yesterday off, though - as usual, I  could have dragged myself into work, but would have preferred not to. But even in the Before Time - I often had flu in years when I hadn't been vaccinated, and flu is not just a bad cold. There was the year I had flu three times (there's a reason why the jab has 3 or 4 strains in it), there was the year it took everyone at work weeks to recover and it was often followed by an opportunistic bacterial infection, there was the year I nearly couldn't get on a plane to make it home to see a dying family member, and I'll take the tender arm and tiredness for a few days, thank you very much.

Comments

[vilakins]

People who say they've got flu when it's a cold annoy the hell out of me - along with those who say covid's just flu, meaning a cold. I've had flu maybe twice, and the last time was so bad I took about three months till I felt right again. Ever since then I've had a flu shot every year. It's totally worth it. (As is the vaccination, and I've had both shots as well.)

[julesjones]

They infuriate me. Then there were the people downplaying Covid by saying "Didn't you know the flu kills 40,000 people every year? We don't have lockdown for that!" That seems to have mostly gone away, possibly because it looks stupid when you've already hit 100,000 deaths in less than a year.

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Actually flu doesn't kill that many. I think the figures I saw were between 5,000 and 30,000, depending on whether it's a good or bad year. But what are accurate figures to covid deniers?

Re flu, I always had very good immunity. I don't know whether it's possible for immunity to be passed from mother to daughter because my grandmother survived the Spanish flu. Or perhaps she'd just won the lottery when it came to immune systems that can fend off flu, and she passed her genes to my mother and then to me. All I know is that my father used to get flu every year in the 1960s. He would be in bed for a week with a high fever, but mum, me and my brother were always fine. Once his firm started giving their employees flu jabs, he was never so ill again.

Since then I've had flu about once every 10 years, but two years ago I decided that having the flu jab would be a good insurance policy because one's immune system isn't as good once one ages. G and I had our flu jabs last week and hopefully the second booster covid jab will be available soon. They've just started here with the over-80s.

[oracne]

I barely reacted to the flu vaccine this year, as well.

[jreynoldsward]

I had to argue with my heathcare provider (I'm in the US) about getting an egg-free shot without providing evidence of an anaphylactic reaction, so I had gone without for several years.

Then I started talking to pharmacists in my small rural town. Can you say shocked and appalled?

I got my flu shot--egg-free--from the local Safeway (grocery) pharmacy. No issues.

[watervole]

I'm waiting for flu jab supplies to become available locally. The GPs had to cancel their session.