I saw you get the joke. That was so cool. :)
Yeah, took me a sec! Well played.
There are multiple varieties of injections that aren’t egg-based. Not sure how widespread they are. Based on this thread, most people just know they got a flu shot, not what type.
Yes, like the live attenuated shot I referenced in that post.
Sorry, I misread. I missed shot and thought you were referring to the spray, which is also live, attenuated virus
Actually looking it up, even people with egg allergies can get the normal vaccine, unless they have a severe allergic response. It only causes issues in 1.35 per million doses. Odds of being struck by lightning are 1 in 700,000.
My company gives away flu shots for free, and I’m an HCV survivor (from the late 1990’s, when it was a major struggle), so I have gotten them for the last 20+ years. Only contracted the flu 1 time, and it lasted only 3 days, but kicked my butt. However, no major complications.
My wife got the shot on and off from 2000 till 2009, then she got the flu bad in 2010 after skipping a year, and ended up with pneumonia, 2 lung nodes, 3 days in hospital, 2.5 weeks recovery. From then on, she got the shot every year, but unfortunately, got the flu again in 2016, again with pneumonia, again with 3 day hospital stay, took 3.5 weeks to feel human again. I stress about the possibility of 'rona entering this household.
Anyways, us and the kid’s are getting the flu shot this year, no doubt about it.
Few days late, but least year i got the 4 strain shot. No side effects at all. The shot itself doesn’t even hurt.
The COVID test was more unpleasant than the flu shot, and the COVID test was right up there with accidentally snorting some pool water. I do tend to get a sniffle a week or two after the shot, presumably from an otherwise occupied immune system, but small price to pay for not getting the flu. I might very well get it twice this year, once in October or so at the start and a kicker in January, if they’ll let me have it. There’s a definite range of peak effectiveness based on time from the shot. And yeah, it’s frustrating when they guess wrong and it isn’t that effective vs. the strains that actually become prevalent, but again small price to pay.
That’s something I think about. The way the use the swab reminds me of those Coney Island geek shows where the guy hammers a nail into his nostril.
I had a deep nasal swab for a flu test back in January, and I’m pretty sure the clinician was trying to gather brain matter.
One of my uncles was a virologist at the NIH for 40 years, so I’ve been getting flu shots as long as I can remember. I just get whatever they are giving each year, there’s no choice offered. Most years no side effects, once in a while some very slight muscle soreness at the shot location, gone within a day.
Everything is canceled this year, but my schedule usually involves going to two very large work-related conferences in October. Each is 10,000+ people, many from overseas. So I always try to make sure I get the shot at least 3-4 weeks before the first one, so that it has time to reach full efficacy before I wade into a sea of humanity.
I usually get it just before Thanksgiving myself, well before the flu season really kicks in.
Just an FYI, flu season starts in October. It hits full strength in Dec/Jan.
I usually get it the very first day it’s available in September. We don’t mess around here.
Yeah, we used to get the vaccine in October, but a couple of years ago, one of the kids brought home the flu the first week of school and we all got it. Now we request it as soon as they have them available.
Just a reminder to go get your flu shot! Got mine via Kaiser Pemanente here in San Jose on Saturday sitting in my car.
Yeah, got mine last week. Usually get it in October/November but this year I wanted to get in early.
Note if you’re older, you probably will want to wait until early October. And be sure to get the extra-strength shot.
If you go to a Target with CVS inside, you get a $5 Target gift card.
Or at least I did at my local Target in the Portland metro.