We’re well into flu season, and everyone who is able should get a flu shot if they haven’t done so already.
You might think, “Hey, the flu shot isn’t 100 percent effective so what’s the point?” Or, “even if I skip the shot and get the flu, it’s not that big of a deal anyway.” Or, “It’s already February, isn’t it too late?” Guess what: You should get it anyway!
Why? First, because you’re wrong—as our health editor Beth Skwarecki writes, “Flu shots work, and are a smart way to reduce the chances that you’ll end up sick this winter.” But secondly, and this is the more important point, this isn’t about you!
If you’re not going to do it for yourself, do it for children and the elderly, as Aaron E. Carroll writes in The New York Times.
Influenza, commonly called the flu, spreads
easily
. You can catch it from someone who coughs, sneezes or even talks to you from up to six feet away. You can infect others a day before you show any symptoms, and up to a week after becoming sick. Children can pass along the virus for even longer than that.
He adds that because the flu is so common, we tend to underestimate its impact. But in 2014, “more than 57,000 people died of influenza/pneumonia. It was the eighth-most common cause of death, behind diabetes.” And of those deaths, two-thirds are among the elderly, while children under the age of five are hospitalized for the flu at the twice the rate of adults under 50, per the Times.
Now consider this:
The
C.D.C. estimated
that in the 2015-2016 flu season, the flu shot prevented more than five million cases of the flu, about 2.5 million medical visits and more than 70,000 hospitalizations. It was also estimated that it prevented 3,000 deaths.
Getting a flu shot significantly lowers your risk of dying, or passing it on to someone who will die. So if you can’t be bothered to get a flu shot for your own health, then please, think of the children and the elderly. “You don’t get immunized just to protect yourself,” writes Carroll. “You also get immunized to protect those who can’t protect themselves.”
Finally, federal law requires flu shots be covered by insurance with no copay or coinsurance charge, and there are low-cost options for people without insurance (location and access might be a deterrent, however).
In sum, don’t be selfish: Get a flu shot.
This story was originally published in 2018 and updated with new information on 2/13/2020.