Choose A Side

It is not guaranteed to keep you from getting seasonal influenza. That is true. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the flu vaccine is generally 40 to 60 percent effective — so, in a typical flu season, it prevents an estimated 5.3 million illnesses, 2.6 million trips to the doctor for the flu, and 85,000 flu-related hospitalizations. A 2017 study, the CDC says, showed that flu vaccination can significantly reduce a child’s risk of dying from influenza.

That is not a reason not to get the vaccine — quite the opposite. The difficult task of predicting which strains will be prevalent each flu season is inexact, but any individual is better protected with than without. And it’s been shown that the vaccine can help lessen the effects even if you do get sick, or are infected with a strain you weren’t vaccinated for. A recent study cited by the CDC showed that vaccinated patients with the flu were 59 percent less likely to be admitted to a hospital’s intensive care unit, and spent an average of four fewer days in the hospital.

Don’t miss a key point in that last sentence: Catching the flu means more than a few days off from work. Influenza can be a very serious illness that requires hospitalization, even in the ICU, and it can kill you. Finally, herd immunity. It’s also called “community immunity,” which actually is closer to the image that matters: When a significant number of people in a community are immune to an infectious disease, it’s less likely to spread to anyone in that community. Remember that there are men, women and — most important of all — children who are medically unable to be vaccinated. Your vaccination is a gesture of community, helping to protect all those people, plus babies, older people and others with chronic health conditions. Put bluntly, if you choose not to vaccinate, for any vague, unfounded reason, you’re choosing allegiance with the flu virus over your friends and neighbors, not to mention your own health.

It’s time. Get vaccinated.