Welcome to Debate Club! Please be aware that this is a space for respectful debate, and that your ideas will be challenged here. Please remember to critique the argument, not the author.

Flu shots? For them or against ?

Options
1…1112141617…63

Replies

  • ccrdragon
    ccrdragon Posts: 3,365 Member
    Options
    [/quote]
    I paid $39.99 at a grocery store pharmacy yesterday. This is the same amount I recall paying in Walgreens either last year or the year before. I used to get a free shot after my yearly physical, but it kind of threw off my routine when my doctor said she no longer needed to see me yearly :s [/quote]

    If you have insurance (here in the states) it shouldn't cost you anything - the flu shot is preventive and insurance has to cover preventive measures (by edict of Congress).
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    Options
    ccrdragon wrote: »
    I paid $39.99 at a grocery store pharmacy yesterday. This is the same amount I recall paying in Walgreens either last year or the year before. I used to get a free shot after my yearly physical, but it kind of threw off my routine when my doctor said she no longer needed to see me yearly :s

    If you have insurance (here in the states) it shouldn't cost you anything - the flu shot is preventive and insurance has to cover preventive measures (by edict of Congress).

    Sure, but the application is a bit more complicated. I've been unable to find any pharmacy anywhere nearby willing to accept my insurance for a flu shot. I live in Iowa and would have to travel to Michigan to be able to actually visit a pharmacy willing to accept my insurance for a flu shot. Fortunately, my employer goes outside of our insurance and pays for flu shots for employees. A local pharmacy actually comes on site and everyone who signed up for a flu shot goes through and gets it. My employer pays the pharmacy for all the shots.

    It used to be that the employer would only pay for a portion of it and we had to pay part also (still local pharmacy coming in with hundreds of doses). One year, I decided that since the insurance benefit paid for all of it, why would I pay even $10 just so I could get it on-site. That year, I tried dozens of pharmacies in Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas... none of them took my insurance, so it would have cost me full price. I ended up going without the shot that year. Now, the employer offers it free so that problem is solved.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    Options
    paperpudding wrote: »
    Tri vaccine is cheaper.
    It still covers for the main flu strains.

    However in Australia the government funded ones were 4 strain and almost everybody buying privately opted for 4 strain, despite slightly higher cost.
    I suspect 3 strain will not be produced next year due to limited consumer demand for it.

    Re Intradermal or intramuscular - Intradermal does have shorter needle but probably not less painful as there are more nerve endings there than in deep muscle.

    At any rate flu vaccine is very minimal pain - little sting for few seconds and all over.

    I've had both. Don't remember thinking the intramuscular one was painful to get, so this is probably true. But the needle would be less intimidating to those bothered by needles. It's not only a shorter needle, but thinner as well.
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    edited November 2016
    Options
    one1fast68 wrote: »
    I see a lot of posts about how many people die each year of the flu and how much lower your risk is of getting GBS...I personally have never known anyone that has died of the flu or know anyone that has told me they lost someone to flu. I do have a friend that lost his brother to GBS though. I'm just curious, because I see a lot of the statistics on the news - has anyone here known someone personally that has died of the flu?

    My neighbor is permanently disabled due to that crazy swine flu a few years back-he almost died and was in a coma for days etc. But, there was no flu shot for that strain (if I remember correctly).
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    Options
    jagodfrey08 wrote: »
    Oh God. Could we PLEASE petition for a norovirus vaccine?!?!?! I and my entire family would be first in line every year! Never fails - January through March, my daughters and I get it, and usually one of us winds up in the ER because I am worried about one of my kiddos dehydrating. Definitely not the best way to lose 7-12 lbs.

    It went through our house one time and five of us had it at once, with one bathroom. There are no words to describe how awful it was :s
  • comptonelizabeth
    comptonelizabeth Posts: 1,701 Member
    Options
    I have the flu jab because I'm asthmatic,have a chronic autoimmune disorder and am on immunosuppressant medication. My family also get them so they don't get sick and pass it on to me.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,986 Member
    Options
    stealthq wrote: »
    paperpudding wrote: »
    Tri vaccine is cheaper.
    It still covers for the main flu strains.

    However in Australia the government funded ones were 4 strain and almost everybody buying privately opted for 4 strain, despite slightly higher cost.
    I suspect 3 strain will not be produced next year due to limited consumer demand for it.

    Re Intradermal or intramuscular - Intradermal does have shorter needle but probably not less painful as there are more nerve endings there than in deep muscle.

    At any rate flu vaccine is very minimal pain - little sting for few seconds and all over.

    I've had both. Don't remember thinking the intramuscular one was painful to get, so this is probably true. But the needle would be less intimidating to those bothered by needles. It's not only a shorter needle, but thinner as well.

    I know - I have given literally thousands of vaccinations.

    But not sure a person who didnt know what they were looking at would notice difference in gauge or length to be less intimidated by it.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
    Options
    paperpudding wrote: »
    stealthq wrote: »
    paperpudding wrote: »
    Tri vaccine is cheaper.
    It still covers for the main flu strains.

    However in Australia the government funded ones were 4 strain and almost everybody buying privately opted for 4 strain, despite slightly higher cost.
    I suspect 3 strain will not be produced next year due to limited consumer demand for it.

    Re Intradermal or intramuscular - Intradermal does have shorter needle but probably not less painful as there are more nerve endings there than in deep muscle.

    At any rate flu vaccine is very minimal pain - little sting for few seconds and all over.

    I've had both. Don't remember thinking the intramuscular one was painful to get, so this is probably true. But the needle would be less intimidating to those bothered by needles. It's not only a shorter needle, but thinner as well.

    I know - I have given literally thousands of vaccinations.

    But not sure a person who didnt know what they were looking at would notice difference in gauge or length to be less intimidated by it.

    Especially since many who don't like needles might prefer not to look at it :D
  • michael1976_ca
    michael1976_ca Posts: 3,488 Member
    Options
    I get it every year. I hate getting sick
  • cosmonew
    cosmonew Posts: 514 Member
    Options
    I am pro vaccine but anti flu shot, at least for my family. I don't go out much and homeschool my child and they never seem to get the strain right...so, no shot for us, unless we get sick
  • LittleLionHeart1
    LittleLionHeart1 Posts: 3,655 Member
    Options
    Only once in my life have I ever gotten the flu. And It was less than 1 week after getting my once and ONLY flu shot. I was seriously ill for a month, and really didn't feel well again to function for 6 weeks. During the time I was sick, I realized that ... "Wow, I guess I've never had the REAL flu before. I've never been SO sick like this before." So NO WAY. It doesn't take a scientist to tell me how sick that shot made me. So NO WAY. Never ever ever ever again.
  • LittleLionHeart1
    LittleLionHeart1 Posts: 3,655 Member
    edited November 2016
    Options
    Hi @singingflutelady :) To really know the exact contents of the shot that said HMO hospital gave me that day, and if it was a contaminated batch or not. Or if the batch could have possibly been stored at improper temperature or not. We would have to ask them. Was it the egg based one? Or the other kind? I don't know..... :/ Batch from mid Jan 2011. I started not to feel well within about a week. By 1st and 2nd week of February, in bed with worst illness of my life. Thanks for your time to me me feedback. Actually my M.I. L. has told me the same thing. I'm just one of those people against getting one myself now. Would never tell anyone else whats right for them. And my M.I.L. gets one shot every year. And consistantly always gets sick for weeks every time following. She still swears by them thou :/ , and shes been in nursing for 40 years.
  • RachelElser
    RachelElser Posts: 1,049 Member
    Options
    sijomial wrote: »
    Relser wrote: »
    The problem with a lot of people who say "well, I got the flu shot, and got the flu!" is that most people can't tell the difference between actual influenza and a 24 hour viral or bacteria thing. Myself included. When I worked at the local hospital many people would come in with the 'flu' and nope, you have something else totally but think it's the flu because 'flu like symptoms' cover a whole lot of diseases.
    Good point.
    One of my colleagues "gets flu" about three times every winter, typically lasts a day and doesn't prevent him from working or exhibit any symptoms beyond blowing his nose a couple of times.
    Man flu in other words.

    At the opposite extreme my Mum thought she had the flu when she had a massive heart attack and took to her bed for a couple of days. She was from a tougher generation....

    Yes! We'd get in these tough old farmers like, I think I may have a chest cold, aaaaaand you're having a heart attack/stroke. Or the guy who shot himself in the leg with a nail gun and then was back out working as an EMT the next day! And it was not a small nail!
This discussion has been closed.

Categories