Hi. Get your flu shots. Get your flu shots. Get your flu shots. Need some reasons to get your flu shots besides me telling you?
Here you go.
1. A flu shot keeps you healthy.
Flu vaccines are proven to reduce the risk of flu illness, hospitalization and death, and actively prevent millions of illnesses and flu-related doctor’s visits each year. Per CDC data, during 2018-2019 alone, flu vaccination prevented an estimated 4.4 million influenza illnesses, 2.3 million influenza-associated medical visits, 58,000 influenza-associated hospitalizations, and 3,500 influenza-associated deaths.
2. Flu shots keep others healthy.
You know how we wear face masks in part to protect others we love? Same goes for getting a flu vaccine. If you don’t get the flu…you don’t pass it on to others in your life either. Simple.
3. During Covid, flu shots are more important than ever.
Doctors are begging us to get flu shots this year for good reason. Not because it will inoculate you from Covid (it won’t), but the more vaccinated people there are, the more we free up valuable emergency rooms and hospitals that tend to fill up with flu patients each fall and winter.
This year in particular, a flu epidemic would be awful — imagine another big wave of Covid cases requiring hospitalization, and at the same time, a concurrent flu epidemic. That could overrun hospitals and compromise patient care, and we don’t want that happening again.So support a healthcare hero by getting a flu shot.
Anyone can get the flu. Yes, even you! | Photo Anthony Tran
4. If you’re healthy today, you may not be tomorrow.
Anyone can get the flu — young, old, marathon runners, yogis…you name it. It’s why the CDC recommends you get a flu shot every flu season. Not just if you’re “high-risk.”
And by the way, healthy people die of the flu too. 22,000 last year alone, and more than 60,000 a couple of years before that. It’s not just a bad cold.
5. Flu shots are easy to get.
Use the CDC’s online vaccine finder to find a location near you. Type in your zip code, check off the vaccine you’re looking for — the flu offers six options including nasal spray, children’s flu shot, and egg-free — and free your options.
You can get one at CVS while you’re scouring the shelves for anti-bac wipes. Get it at the supermarket pharmacy while the kids go pick out snacks. Get one at a mobile drive-thru flu shot location that’s being set up in lots of communities. Get one at an urgent care clinic. Get one at Costco (really!) Or get one at your child’s pediatrician while they get theirs — many pediatric offices offer them to the whole family as a courtesy.
6. The flu vaccine is safe.
Once again: Flu vaccines are safe. It’s been around for 50 years, safely taken by hundreds of millions of Americans alone. There is so much published research about the safety of flu vaccines, in part because maintaining public trust in their safety and effectiveness is essential. Please listen to reputable scientists and medical experts on this one. Please.
7. Flu vaccines are (generally) free.
Thanks to the Affordable Care Act — the same one we’re busy trying to protect right now — your insurance is required to cover flu vaccines without charge or even a co-pay. Just double check with your insurance to see if there are any guidelines on where to get your shot.
If you’re not insured, check your County Health Department, many of which offer flu shots free or on a sliding scale. Or search ‘free flu shots” in your area to find even more options that are free or affordable; Costco, for example, will provide them for a whole family for $19.99 and you don’t even need a membership. Plus, you can grab some churros when you’re done.
In fact, let’s add a bonus reason #8: Good excuse to get some treats with the kids afterwards.
This post was brought to you by absolutely nobody except our team, because we care about you and your family and keeping you all safe. Speaking of which, get a flu shot.
